He attended Bishop Borgess High School, and he came to prominence while playing college basketball at Michigan State.

He and point guard Eric Snow combined to form one of the nation's most prolific backcourt tandems for head coach Jud Heathcote's Spartans.

He left East Lansing as the Spartans all-time leading scorer and began the tradition of out-going seniors kissing the logo at center court during their final home game.

Respert was diagnosed with cancer after undergoing a series of tests at Milwaukee's St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in May 1996.

After confirmation through a second opinion, he underwent daily radiation therapy for three consecutive months, losing twenty pounds in the process.

The only people who knew about this treatment were the Bucks' trainers, doctors, his coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr. and Michigan State backcourt partner Eric Snow.