Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr. wasn’t supposed to make it to Division I basketball — he’s 5 feet, 10 inches.

He wasn’t supposed to make it to the United States — he’s from Nassau, Bahamas.

He wasn’t supposed to have been born — his mother has sickle cell disease and doctors said she would never have kids.

But he made it. And every time his mother, Monalisa McKinney, watches him play, she cries.

“It taught me a lot about myself,” Nairn said. “I don’t think I would be the person I am today without going through the trials and tribulations that I went through as a child.”

On Friday at 10:07 p.m., when seventh-seeded Michigan State (25-11, 12-6 Big Ten) takes on No. 3 seed Oklahoma (24-10, 12-6 Big 12) in the Carrier Dome in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, the point guard’s unexpected path to prominence on college basketball’s biggest stage will continue. The freshman entered MSU’s starting lineup for good in early February, which might be one of the lesser surprising things that have happened in his life.

Nairn was born on Oct. 8, 1994. But afterward, because of McKinney’s disease, she had to stay in the hospital for an extra three and a half months. When she saw her son for the first time outside of the hospital, she cried.

“I knew from the time I was carrying him that he would be someone that would make my life worth living,” McKinney said.

In Nassau, poverty was rampant and no one was expected to become successful. There was no air conditioning. Basketball was played exclusively on outdoor concrete. Crates were nailed to wooden backboards, which hung from trees.

McKinney was a bartender and Nairn’s father, Lourawls Nairn Sr., was a construction worker.

“We made the necessary sacrifices to make sure our (two) boys had clothes on their back and shoes on their feet,” McKinney said. “And they had a hot meal every night before they went to bed, even if it meant me sacrificing my dinner.”

When Nairn was 13 — two years after his mom said he began playing basketball — he left his family and home to play at South Florida Christian Prep Academy.

Twenty-one people — mostly other students — were living in one house in Florida with three bedrooms and one bathroom, and Nairn said he wasn’t treated well.

When he came home for Winter Break in the middle of his freshman year, Nairn didn’t want to go back. He stayed in the Bahamas and eventually was offered a spot by Sunrise Christian (Bel Air, Kansas) Academy’s Kyle Lindsted in March 2010 after the coach saw him play in a showcase.

“Going to Sunrise changed my life,” Nairn said. “It was a place where people loved me as a person outside of basketball. It was all about making me a better man and making me a better person.”

In the championship game of a national prep showcase, Buddy Hield, SCA’s best player and now Oklahoma’s top threat, sprained his ankle. Nairn took it upon himself to take the game over as the team’s second-best guard.

But then came what he called the turning point of his career.

Nairn missed every shot the rest of the game and he said Sunrise lost by about four or five points. After the game, Nairn cried as he got onto the team bus.

“‘Tum, don’t worry about it,’” Nairn recalled Lindsted telling him. “‘One thing I learned about you is that you’re a fighter and you’re a winner.’ …

“What meant to him more was the way I wanted to win for my team and that he loved me.”

Now, Nairn will have another chance to match what Hield can do when they face off on Friday night.

And the desire to make a better life for himself and his family — just like it pushed McKinney to let her son come to the United States — continues to push Nairn.

Said MSU forward Marvin Clark Jr.: “If there’s somebody that you want to go to war with … he’s somebody that you want to go to war with.”

Published on March 26, 2015 at 11:59 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds