Coach touches on several topics
Football is getting closer to taking center stage but, with MSU basketball players taking part in the annual Moneyball tradition, Tom Izzo was recently interviewed on BIG Today. He touched on a number of subjects including last year’s run, becoming the Big Ten’s all-time winningest coach, the transfer portal, his outlook for next season, NCAA tournament expansion, and expectations for his team. Here are some of the takeaways:
On last year’s run:
We did that with a team that wasn’t as talented as most that I’ve had but more together and we had depth, we had no injuries.
You should feel good but then, the day after, the portal hits (referring to Tre Holloman’s departure) and all the things go crazy.
It was a great year. It was great guys. Staff did a good job but it kind of shows that togetherness still does matter.
On passing Bob Knight to become the BIG’s all-time winningest coach:
I got a great letter from Pat Knight (Bob’s son). My first Big Ten win was against Indiana and they were good and we weren’t. I had great respect for Bob and I do feel that the players play the game but I guess I was still part of it and it was something that I’ll be very proud of because it means you not only lasted a long time but, maybe more important, played at a pretty good level most of your career so far.
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On his approach to the transfer portal this off season:
Tre Holloman was a little bit of a surprise. And when that happened, we were a couple weeks away from Jase Richardson, who I don’t think anybody thought would be one and done but he just played to the level where . . . he should be one and done. So that threw a little bit of a monkey wrench into it but, at the same time, really happy for him.
We brought in a couple guys but we still got a majority of my team back and guys that I like.
Now, Jeremy Fears has got to take a big step. Coen Carr has got to take a big step. Jaxon Kohler has got to take a big step. Carson Cooper. And we had a couple of freshmen that were sitting out that I think are going to help us a lot.
Even though he has looked to the portal more in recent years, Izzo still feels an obligation to the guys he recruited out of high school and trusts them to put in the work during the summer.
The freshmen he’s referring to must be big man Jesse McCulloch, who redshirted last year and is currently dealing with a foot injury, and guard Kur Teng, who played sparingly last season.
Izzo went elaborated on his expectations for Carr, Fears, and Kohler:
He’s (Carr) changed his shot, changed his free throws. Now he’s got to defend, he’s got to rebound even a little better. I expect him to have a big year.
Jeremy had a severe injury and was out 9 months so he didn’t come back to himself until after Christmas or maybe even later and I think he’ll take a monster step.
I expect Kohler to take a big step too.
Every Spartan fan is probably looking forward to the same thing. Trey Fort has been lighting it up on the Moneyball courts and hopefully he will prove to be a reliable scorer for the Spartans this season. However, the core group of Fears, Carr, Kohler, and Cooper will need to meet Izzo’s expectations if this team will build on last year’s success. With FAU transfer Kaleb Glenn out for the season, the Spartans probably can’t afford any more serious injuries. Hopefully McCulloch can overcome his foot injury and he and Teng can emerge this season while incoming freshman Cam Ward can make an immediate contribution.
On his outlook for the BIG in 2025-2026:
I’m not sure anybody except Purdue knows what they’ve got coming back. I think they’ll have a chance to win it all. Nobody knows for sure what anybody’s got. It’s exciting in a way but also discomforting.
The league will still be good but a lot of new coaches, a lot of new players.
Izzo clearly has a lot of respect for the job Matt Painter has done at Purdue. Later in the interview, he said:
It’ll (BIG basketball) be in good hands when I’m gone because Matt Painter is one of the special coaches in the country.
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On if it’s gotten more difficult to maintain Michigan State’s family-style culture:
Yeah, it really has. We’re used to having guys leaving early (because they went pro) or when they graduated. It’s just a different era. I’ve adjusted but I don’t want to change what I had either. Culture, relationships are still very important to me. The day they’re not, you won’t be interviewing me.
On the portal in general:
We’ve lost a lot of control. I don’t think it’s benefitting the kids in the long (run). We got more guys at four different schools than we do at two different schools right now. How can that benefit anybody? Just changing venues . . . I don’t think it’s beneficial. I saw a lot of teams last year that had a lot of new guys that didn’t do so well. Teams that had one or two that they brought in did pretty well.
I have so many players that come back. Is that going to continue? If you have a guy for 8 months, it’s not the same as if you’ve had him for 4 years.
I’m going to adjust, but I’m not changing what I believe in.
On NCAA Tournament expansion, which it sounds like Izzo is not opposed to:
There’s a lot more division 1 teams and there’s a lot more people that put money into basketball. And we see that football went from 4 to 12 and now they’re talking 16. I think you can water down a tournament. I don’t think we should be going to 100. I don’t know what the right number would be.
How many better teams are there today than 20 years ago? There’s a lot. I think that should play some part in it. I’ve lost to a 15 seed but that is what makes the tournament. I think keeping those teams in and maybe expanding a little more could be good.
At 68, it’s not broken. I just think we’re getting more teams, people are putting more money into basketball.
Finally, Izzo was asked about which of his MSU teams he thought were good enough to win it all. He mentioned the Cassius Winston-led team that was playing their best basketball when Covid brought everything to an abrupt end.
And of course the 2016 team that ran into a Middle Tennessee State team that seemingly couldn’t miss. Izzo said that the Spartans won the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles that year and he thought they were deserving of a 1-seed (and MTSU also deserved a higher seed) but MSU got the 2-line.
He also brought up the 2014 team that was up 9 against Connecticut in the Elite 8 before falling 60-54 to miss the Final Four.
Then, perhaps in true Izzo fashion, finished with “we’ve had teams that made the Final Four that weren’t that good.”