Tom Izzo Articles - Page 2

Michigan State went into the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday believing it could beat anyone. That’s exactly what happened, as the Spartans took down Kentucky in convincing fashion, 83-66. It was a statement win for 17th-ranked Michigan State, as the 15th-ranked Kentucky was tagged as the favorite in the much-anticipated matchup. The Spartans […]

Tom Izzo wasn’t interested in sugarcoating things after Michigan State’s 79-60 win over San Jose State on Thursday night. The pattern is becoming familiar for the Hall of Fame coach, who recently called the Arkansas Razorbacks matchup “scary” following a narrow 69-66 escape just days earlier. In the postgame press conference, Izzo made his feelings […]

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 […]

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo called Arkansas “scary” before and after the Spartans’ 69-66 thriller at the Breslin Center. The Hall of Fame coach’s comments were more than praise for John Calipari’s Razorbacks squad. They were a reflection of where Izzo believes his own team stands after gutting out a victory that demanded toughness […]

The 2025 Michigan State basketball team boasts a talented roster and remains under the guidance of Tom Izzo. They have the ingredients of a successful season this year on the court. They are also still recruiting at a high level in high school and through the transfer portal, mainly due to Tom Izzo. They landed […]

Legendary Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo isn’t shy about addressing the state of college athletics. That was evident in his recent criticism of the University of Louisville program. After it was revealed that Louisville had former NBA G League player London Johnson commit, Izzo took aim at the Cardinals for making such a move, […]

Tom Izzo got brutally honest on the state of college sports ahead of the Michigan State Spartans’ 2025-26 season. Izzo has been coaching for a long time, all of it with the Spartans since 1905. He has kept the program stable with numerous years of NCAA Tournament appearances that includes multiple deep runs. He’s navigated […]

The Michigan State basketball program will look much different in the 2024-25 season. One notable departure is forward Xavier Booker. Booker played two seasons at Michigan State for Tom Izzo with five starts. In 2024-25, Booker averaged just under 13 minutes a game and 4.7 points with 2.2 rebounds, but he was expected to take […]

Legendary college hoops coaches John Calipari of Arkansas basketball and Tom Izzo of Michigan State basketball will be facing off not once but twice over the next two years, as announced by the Razorbacks. “Arkansas and @MSU_Basketball announce two-year series with game one set for Nov. 8 in East Lansing. The Spartans are scheduled to […]

Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo isn’t too keen on what college basketball looks like. Recently, he called for guardrails to the NCAA transfer portal, which gives players the power to switch schools. Also, Izzo became one of the few coaches to advocate for the expansion of the NCAA tournament. Amid so much change, Izzo […]

Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo has had a busy offseason. The Spartans made the offseason even more special by adding four-star prospect Carlos Medlock Jr., per League Ready. Medlock pledged to Michigan State over several other big-time programs, including Michigan and Tennessee. The guard got rave reviews by basketball recruiting analysts. “Medlock Jr. is […]

Outside of college basketball coaches, and conference and NCAA executives, it’s hard to find many people in favor of expanding the NCAA Tournament. Michigan State men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo knows that, but gave his pro-expansion point of view nonetheless in an interview with Rick Pizzo for the Big Ten men’s basketball YouTube channel. “There’s […]

Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo is no stranger to NIL and the transfer portal, but that doesn’t mean he is a fan. Izzo is advocating for more regulations and rules regarding college basketball transfer rules. “We’ve lost a lot of control now. Don’t kid yourself. I think a lot of people are afraid to […]

The Michigan State basketball team received some bad news on Wednesday as top transfer Kaleb Glenn is going to miss the entire 2025-26 season. Glenn was a big addition to this Spartans squad, but a torn patellar tendon is going to keep him on the sidelines next season. Glenn started his college basketball career in […]

Tom Izzo has been on the sidelines for the Michigan State men’s basketball program since 1983 and has been head coach since 1995. The Hall of Famer has seen college basketball evolve around him, and he is preaching patience to the fans who are adjusting to the current era of NIL, revenue sharing and the […]

College sports will enter a new era of NIL following the approval of the house settlement this past week. Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo to provide his thoughts on the ever-evolving situation. The house settlement allows the NCAA to implement guardrails on NIL for teams and players. Players will continue to earn money […]

Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo is getting a quality player from the transfer portal. The Spartans are adding guard Divine Ugochukwu, per On3. Ugochukwu previously played for Miami in the ACC. The former Miami player, who can play at both guard spots, averaged 5.3 points and 1.9 rebounds a game last season for the […]

The Michigan State athletic program is making a big change at the top as the university is letting go of athletic director Alan Haller. Haller has been the AD since 2021, but the Spartans are now looking to move in a new direction. The search for a new AD is on, and in the meantime, […]

The Michigan State basketball team landed its second transfer portal commitment of the offseason on Friday. Samford transfer Trey Fort is coming to play for Tom Izzo and the Spartans after spending the past three years at three different schools. Fort has had an interesting path throughout college, but he has a lot of potential […]

The transfer portal and Michigan State basketball head coach Tom Izzo don’t see eye to eye. While Izzo didn’t entertain the transfer portal during March Madness, there was a clear reason why. He explained via Chris Solari of the Detroit Free Press his issues about the portal. “We created a bad system,” Izzo said in […]

The Michigan State basketball team picked up an important transfer portal commitment on Thursday as former Louisville and FAU forward Kaleb Glenn chose the Spartans. Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo has been around for a long time and he doesn’t approach the transfer portal like other coaches, but he knows that in order to […]

Despite entering the 2024-2025 season unranked, Tom Izzo did what he does best and led Michigan State to another deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Yet, for the fifth straight season, the Spartans failed to come out of their region despite entering the bracket with a high seed. Michigan State now prepares to begin another […]

Michigan State basketball watched high-caliber production out of Jase Richardson, sparking NBA Draft chatter. But there’s a dream he shared following his March Madness exit that could delay entering the draft. Richardson and the Spartans fell 70-64 to top-seeded Auburn at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Michigan State watched Johni Broome, another NBA draft prospect, […]

Tom Izzo has witnessed multiple NCAA Tournament runs throughout his 30 years with the Michigan State Spartans. Despite the loads of experience, the emotions remained strong after the team’s 70-64 loss to the Houston Cougars on Sunday. The Spartans reached the Elite Eight in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, their first appearance since 2019. They had […]

2024-25 has been an incredible season for Michigan State basketball, and the Spartans are still rolling. Despite a slow start, second-seeded Michigan State came back and played a strong second half to pull off a very tight 73-70 win over No. 6 seed Ole Miss in the Sweet 16. Tom Izzo and company really had […]

Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans grinded out a 73-70 win over the Ole Miss Rebels in the Sweet 16 to advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. It marked the 15th time in program history that they reached the Elite Eight, their 11th under Izzo. Their consistent success as a contender […]

The Sweet 16 gets underway on Thursday night, and there are a lot of good matchups lined up for the next two days. One of the most intriguing matchups of the round will go down on Friday night as Ole Miss will go up against the Michigan State basketball team in Atlanta. The Rebels are […]

The Michigan State basketball team has had a special season, and it isn’t over yet. The Spartans earned a two-seed in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big Ten regular-season title, and they advanced to the second weekend of March Madness with wins over 15-seed Bryant and 10-seed New Mexico. The Spartans are in the […]

Michigan State basketball is back in the Sweet 16 spotlight of March Madness. Tom Izzo has guided the Spartans here before. Except this time a Southeastern Conference challenger awaits in Ole Miss. The No. 2 seed Spartans had to hold off a feisty New Mexico team 71-63 to move into the regional semifinals. Izzo acknowledged […]

For about 30 minutes of action on Friday night, it appeared as if the Michigan State Spartans, the 2-seed in the South Region, weren’t prepared for the challenge that the Bryant Bulldogs were ready to provide in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Sparty led by just 5 points at halftime and only managed […]

Retirement rumors have surfaced in reference to Michigan State basketball head coach Tom Izzo’s future. Will Izzo consider retirement anytime soon? The head coach responded to the rumors during a recent interview on Up & Adams. “I don’t believe that you have to retire on a high note,” Izzo said. “I don’t want to let […]

I’m sure that over the last 72 hours, ever since the NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed, you’ve made a concerted effort to inbreathiate as much March Madness content as possible. What you’ve likely noticed is that the majority of that content leads you to the same place… where Duke, Auburn or Florida is being picked […]

Well friends, it’s time for the NCAA Tournament. It’s time for the best theme in all of sports to become a month-long ear-worm. It’s time for Masters commercials and it’s time to watch one Thursday morning episode of The Price Is Right. It’s time for hundreds of memorable mini-moments to eventually give way to One […]

Michigan State basketball returns to two familiar spots: March Madness and earning Final Four thoughts. National champion winning head coach Tom Izzo has the Spartans back as a high seed. Plus is getting the East Lansing campus thinking about its first national title since 2000. The Spartans landed the No. 2 seed in the South […]

One of the best days on the college basketball calendar is here and the bracket bonanza is in full swing. On Sunday afternoon, the NCAA Tournament selection committee revealed the official March Madness bracket, and there are plenty of storylines to hit on during the countdown to the best postseason in sports. North Carolina? Who […]

Despite closing the season on an absolute tear, Michigan State basketball fell short in its quest to sweep the regular season and conference tournament titles in the Big Ten. After taking home the top spot during the regular season, Tom Izzo’s squad lost its semifinal on Saturday against No. 5-seed Wisconsin by a score of […]

The Michigan State Spartans are on a major roll as they pursue the Big Ten conference tournament title. Tom Izzo’s team pulled off a 74-64 victory over the Oregon Ducks in the quarterfinal round Friday as the Spartans began their run in the tournament with an effective performance featuring 17 points from freshman Jase Richardson. […]

Big Ten basketball season awards were announced on Tuesday, and for the fourth time in his career, Michigan State basketball head coach Tom Izzo has won Big Ten Coach of the Year. This honor is well-deserved as Izzo has once again done a fantastic job with his Spartans squad. Michigan State won the Big Ten […]

March is here, and the madness is right around the corner. Arguably the best sports month of the year is upon us, the NCAA Tournament is just a couple of weeks away as the first games get started on March 18th. The NCAA Tournament is a tough one to beat as it is definitely one […]