As the No. 22 Michigan State basketball team won a thrilling game against the No. 14 Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday, 69-66, it was no doubt a cool head coaching matchup between Tom Izzo and John Calipari. With Izzo and Michigan State basketball meeting Calipari and Razorbacks more often, the Spartans' head coach spoke about the respect he has for the former Kentucky coach.
After the game, Izzo spoke at length about how the Razorbacks are a team to watch and how the two coaches align with each other on many aspects. He would go as far as to say that when watching Calipari on “podcasts or whatever,” Izzo loves how much he loves the game, according to Whole Hog Sports.
“Sometimes his wife laughs because of our conversations, because I think with certain things that we've done, we agree,” Izzo said. “We're on many boards together over the years. You know, [Calipari] gets misconstrued sometimes. He's a funny dude, but he's really smart. I mean, he really is.
“And what I love about him, I think he really cares about the game,” Izzo continued. “I just looked at a couple of — I don't know if they're podcasts or whatever — and I watched them the other day, and I said, ‘Wow, I agree with everything he says.’”
Michigan State basketball's Tom Izzo shouts out John Calipari
While it was a loss for Arkansas against the Michigan State basketball team, Izzo would still point out how Calipari has a great team around him to make noise. Izzo even expressed how watching film before the game, the Razorbacks are “scary.”
“I told some of you, watching them on film was scary,” Izzo said. “I really meant it, too. I still think before the year is over, that is going to be a really, really good team…First time [for Arkansas] on the road, some of those [players are] freshmen. It's going to take a little while for [Calipari], too. But he's got a nice team. He really does.”
“These are big games for this early, and this is why it's hard to go on the road and play these kinds of games,” Izzo continued. “Because the advantage goes to the home team early until everybody gets their feet on the ground.”
The Spartans are now at a 2-0 record to start the season, with the program's next game coming against San Jose State on Thursday evening.
