The form said only that Coach Smith flew “[redacted].” The transponder said San Antonio, then Pittsburgh, then Seattle.
The smaller January entries tell the same story in miniature. A $14,338 trip on January 26 listed no destination at all, yet the plane is confirmed on the ground in Atlanta. A $23,448 trip on the 15th hid two stops, and one of them resolves to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. None of this names a recruit, because we track the aircraft and not the passenger.
Every gift form, with the destinations recovered
| Date | What the form said | Where the plane went | Gift value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 15–16 | recruiting · redacted | Sioux Falls, SD | $23,448 |
| Jan 26 | recruiting · redacted | Atlanta, GA | $14,338 |
| Jan 27–Feb 1 | recruiting · “TX, PA, OH, CA” | San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Dayton, Seattle, Camarillo | $85,104 |
| Jul 23–24 | media days | Las Vegas, NV | $28,998 |
| 2025 total | donor-attested fair value, gift-in-kind air travel | $197,133 | |
How we know
The gift values and dates come from Michigan State's own non-cash gift forms, released under the Michigan FOIA. The donor and his aircraft were resolved through the FAA registry, where Mike McNamara's Dearborn address ties to LaButte LLC. Each recovered destination is a landing detected from public ADS-B position data on the gift date. We do not name recruits.
Sources. Michigan State University FOIA Office, request MSUF058526. First surfaced by FOIAball. FAA Aircraft Registry snapshot. ADS-B positions via adsb.exposed.