Armorion Smith pressed his palms together over the bridge of his nose and leaned against the kitchen sink in a home he shares with five younger siblings.

After losing their mother, 41-year-old Gala Gilliam, on Aug. 19, Michigan State University student-athlete Armorion Smith is the legal guardian of his four younger siblings while studying criminal justice and playing college football as of Sept.

Michigan State football player Armorion Smith is taking on raising his siblings following the tragic death of their mother.