LANSING – Standing outside of Breslin Center, hours after the final buzzer had sounded, Jim Green and his stepson, Casey Swan, watched a light rain turn into snow.

It was 2013, and on that cold November night, they were on a mission. They wanted — no, needed — an autograph from Michigan State sophomore guard Gary Harris.

This wasn’t the first time this duo had waited hours on end for a favorite Spartan to emerge from the locker room. It certainly wouldn’t be their last.

But that night, Green felt like giving up. Swan urged him to wait just a few more minutes.

Then, Harris appeared, carrying his bags and toting his post-game dinner. When he felt the frigid air, he felt bad about making them wait. He offered them his pizza.

“I felt bad. I didn’t want to take his food,” Green recalled with a chuckle.

He was so humbled by the gift, he forgot to get the signature and chased Harris down the street moments later.

Wednesday night in the basement of his home south of Lansing, Green slides an empty pizza box across the bar top. A black scribble above the Hungry Howie's logo apparently reads Gary Harris.

It’s not the most impressive piece of memorabilia he has. It’s certainly not the most expensive. But it’s cherished and comes with a story.

That’s what this basement is all about.

Harris’ autograph is important to them, but so are the other 2,199 (literally) that reside in this space. From Tom Izzo and Mark Dantonio to Jud Heathcote and The Flintstones, Green and Swan have met them all.

Over the last decade, these guys have turned the basement of their rural home into a shrine to MSU athletics. Their collection is impressive. Almost overwhelming.

MORE FROM CODY TUCKER:

A trip down memory lane with Coach Jud

Former MSU players, friends share stories, weigh in on the death of Jud Heathcote

Michigan State football equipment staff helps Spartans dress for success — for starters

Swan, 21, slowly made his way through the 1,300-square-foot “Spartan man cave,” counting on his fingers and whispering to himself.

“65,” he said. “We have 65 helmets.”

Game balls, posters, framed photos, banners and jerseys line the walls. Most of the things they have accumulated are game-worn or game-used (81 pieces, to be exact), like the footballs and gloves encased in glass. Ten wooden squares rest against the wall. They are pieces of the court that once used at Breslin. Green hopes to turn them into coffee tables one day.

Three plastic green chairs sit against the back wall. They used to reside in Spartan Stadium. A 65-inch flat screen hangs above a fireplace and a pair of green leather love seats are near by. This is ground zero for football games when MSU is on the road.

A smaller television hangs behind the bar. Green bought that so he could watch two games at the same time. Today, the 2015 miracle road win over rival Michigan is playing on the DVR.

Game programs, tickets and a photo from their seat at that specific game rest neatly in binders. The family doesn’t have season tickets to football or men’s basketball, but they never miss a game. Season tickets aren’t an option, they want to watch Spartan games from a different seat each week.

If Green, 40, had to put a dollar figure on the contents in this room, he humbly whispers, “Around $50,000.” His wife was within ear shot. She didn’t bat an eye.

“I am a big Spartans fan, too,” Carla Green said with a smile. “I was an athlete growing up and have always loved the teams. We are a Spartan family.”

Jim Green, whose day job is in the security business, said he can’t really put a price on his collection. All he knows is it’s insured and not for sale.

“If anything happened to this room, I’d be in a straitjacket on the way to Sparrow Hospital right now,” Green jokes.

Shame can’t be in your vocabulary when you have this type of collection. Green and Swan put aside their fears and swallow their pride often, asking players and coaches for gear after games. A row of assorted green basketball shoes rests against the floor boards. Swan claims he is a “shoe guy.” When he scores a pair, it’s nothing short of an early Christmas.

Green will take what he can get.

After the 2015 Big Ten title game in Indianapolis, Green saw Shilique Calhoun making his way toward the tunnel. Calhoun is one of Green’s favorite players. He had given him an autograph in the past. Green hoped he would throw something into the stands for him after the memorable win over Iowa.

“I asked him for his (skull cap),” Green laughed as his wife shook her head in the background. “He looked at me like I was crazy and said, ‘Really? You want this thing?’ I said yes and he threw it up to me.”

The sweaty, hot rag hit Green in the chest.

“I rung it out on the concrete and stuck it in my pocket,” he said with a smile.

But why?

Nostalgia. Simple as that.

He didn’t want a sweat-soaked headband in his pocket. He wanted the history.

“See,” he said, pointing to a pair of MSU hardback books on his coffee table. “He’s wearing it in all of these photos after the game.”

Now, that black skull cap is in a glass frame behind his bar. It tells another tale.

A few feet away is a wall that strikes a nerve with the whole family. It’s an anti-Michigan wall. They aren’t afraid to speak their minds about the team in Ann Arbor.

A mini Paul Bunyan trophy sits atop the bar just behind a plastic case containing a game ticket from 2015. Mr. Bunyan is sporting an MSU helmet. Behind the figurine are dozens of photos from the rivalry. The main attraction: A signed picture of Jalen Watts-Jackson diving into the end zone.

A bumper sticker reads: “Have you kicked a Wolverine today?”

“I’d be really depressed if my last name was Blue,” Green laughed. “I think I would have it changed.”

“We hate Michigan,” Swan chimed in.

Green rope lights follow the ceiling line in the main living room area. Track lights that turn from green to white flash behind the bar. A green siren hangs from the ceiling in the back corner.

“Watch this,” Green said, flipping a switch. “This is our ‘rally siren.’ It has actually worked a few times.”

One of those times is a sore subject for Swan. Carla Green shakes her head, urging her son to tell the story. He is still upset about it.

“Before the punt, I was so mad I went upstairs,” Swan said, lowering his head as his parents laughed. “I thought we had lost.”

The final play of the 2015 U-M game is approaching on the small television behind them. The whole family stops to watch like they haven’t seen this play a million times over.

“Woo, he has trouble with the snap. The ball is free. It’s picked up by Michigan State …,” the broadcaster emphatically says.

“See, you never give up on a game,” Green laughs as he pokes at Swan.

“I know, I know,” Swan replies.

Swan wishes his stepdad would’ve talked him into waiting a few extra minutes.

On Saturday, this family once again made the 20-plus-mile trip to East Lansing for the Spartans home opener against Bowling Green. They sat in a new seat. Afterward, they waited right outside the locker room to get what they could from players and coaches.

They wouldn’t have it any other way.

“This is a lifestyle,” Green said. “If you cut me open, I’d bleed green.”

Contact Cody Tucker at (517) 377-1070 or cjtucker@lsj.com and follow him on Twitter @CodyTucker_LSJ.