Injured Michigan State senior plays in emotional moment (Video)

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 26: Eron Harris
EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 26: Eron Harris /
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Injured Michigan State Spartans senior Eron Harris got an emotional Senior Day send-off.

While it hasn’t been the best season for Tom Izzo and Michigan State, the 18-11 Spartans, who currently sit in a tie for third place in the Big Ten after beating Wisconsin on Sunday, still have a good shot of earning an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. They have two games remaining in the regular season against Illinois and Maryland, both of which are on the road, and then the Big Ten tournament but they’ll have to go the rest of the way without their third-leading scorer and best three-point shooter, senior Eron Harris.

Harris, who played his first two seasons for West Virginia, suffered a knee injury just over a week ago in a loss at Purdue and an MRI later revealed that he would need season-ending surgery to repair it, meaning that the Spartans’ senior leader would miss out on playing one final game on Senior Day at the Breslin Center. Or so we thought.

In a touching scene in Lansing on Sunday afternoon, Tom Izzo called a timeout with just over 11 seconds remaining and inserted Harris, who was in full uniform sporting a knee brace, into the game. With the outcome already decided, Harris inbounded the ball to Matt McQuaid, who took a couple of dribbles and then deliberately traveled with 3.2 seconds remaining, giving Harris the chance to honor the senior tradition of kissing the Spartan Shield at half court in a beautiful moment.

"What a beautiful moment as @MSU_Basketball‘s Eron Harris goes out the right way on senior day. https://t.co/1IPBS9g3vP— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) February 26, 2017"

Harris also got a great surprise before the game ever started when it was announced that his mother, Marveda Saunders, would be singing the national anthem. To the surprise of nobody, both were very emotional during the performance and the senior guard broke down in tears as he looked on.

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Eron Harris’ career at Michigan State may be over but he’ll always have the memories of Senior Day to hold onto. I applaud the Spartans and Tom Izzo for their efforts to make this a special day for a player who has earned the respect of all those around him, which is why you saw even the Wisconsin players cheering for him. Quite the classy move from everyone involved.