The Michigan State Spartans are off to a strong start to the 2025-26 season at 7-0 following their 74-58 demolishing of North Carolina on Thanksgiving. Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo remains one of the best coaches in college basketball, and his star point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. believes he might just be tops in the country, as per Jack Morgan of ESPN Plus.
Following Michigan State’s win against North Carolina, Jeremy Fears declared Tom Izzo, “the best coach in the country,” after he left the postgame press conference.
With their undefeated record, the Spartans are currently ranked No. 11 in the country. It’s possible when the new AP men’s basketball poll comes out on Monday, Michigan State might move up a few spots. It’s been 25 years since the Spartans won an NCAA championship, but under Izzo Michigan State has consistently been among the best teams in the country.
Izzo first took over as head coach ahead of the 1995-96 season, and is the longest-tenured Division 1 men’s basketball head coach in the country. Greg Kampe of Oakland has been with the program longer than Izzo at Michigan State, but Oakland played Division 2 when he first took over.
Since 1995, Izzo has complied an overall record of 741-302. He has led the Spartans to 27 NCAA Tournament appearances in that time period. Last season, Michigan State reached the Elite Eight where they lost to Auburn.
Michigan State has been powered this season by their point guard in Fears. Now in his junior season, Fears had appeared in six games coming into their Thanksgiving matchup against UNC, at a little over 30 minutes per game. He has been averaging 10.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 10.2 assists and 2.0 steals with splits of 43.2 percent shooting from the field, 43.8 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 90.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
