Tom Izzo; born January 30, 1955 is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Tom Izzo: Press conference today| Post game| Retire
Press Conference Today:
There are a lot of ways to describe the final matchup between Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Izzo. Two Hall of Fame coaches. Two national-championship winners. Two good friends. But maybe the simplest way to understand what separates the coaches from even the best of their peers is to start here.
Duke and Michigan State have not looked outside of their own campuses for a coach in 40 years. Kansas has. Kentucky does it with almost every hire.
Post game:
UCLA does it all the time. Even North Carolina, which believes it has the best family atmosphere in college basketball, has done it twice (though both times, UNC hired alums).
But Duke hired Krzyzewski in 1980. Michigan State promoted Izzo to replace his mentor Jud Heathcote in 1995. The two have maintained—and benefited from—stability in an extremely volatile sport, creating a cycle of success that is self-perpetuating.
Retire:
Private Duke touts its Brotherhood; public Michigan State loves its Spartan Dawgs. The effect is the same. This gives Krzyzewski and Izzo credibility in recruiting, authority during rigorous practices and trust in the final minutes of a tight NCAA tournament game.
It all rests on an understanding that serves the subfloor for both programs: For decades, players who put their faith in these two coaches were ultimately happy that they did.
So many coaches talk about wanting to give their players a great collegiate experience, and a lot of them even mean it, but it’s hard when the coach is one season from either getting fired or jumping to a better job.
