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15 great moments from Tom Izzo's career
15 great moments in a legendary college basketball coaching career. Leon Halip/Getty Images

15 great moments from Tom Izzo's career

It doesn’t matter where you start; it’s where you finish. Not that the two were ever going to be different for Tom Izzo. No matter where he was going career-wise, there was little doubt that he was going too far from home.

The Michigan State coach attained fame by leading the Spartans to the NCAA Tournament for nearly 20 consecutive years. In 2000, he brought East Lansing their first national title since 1979. After sending 22 players to NBA under his tutelage, he will be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame. His legend, however, will be far from Springfield, Illinois.

Izzo is a Michigan man through and through, and that’s the way he coaches. He may be gruff, but he will always put his players ahead of his own aspirations.  He expects his players to be tough and fight to the end, and that is what every opponent feels when they go against the Spartans. Just ask every school in the Big Ten.

Izzo will always be a kid from Michigan. He grew up in Iron Mountain and went college at Northern Michigan University, where he was a Division II All-American. After graduating, Izzo couldn’t go too far away, coaching at Ishpeming High School for one season before becoming an assistant coach at his alma mater, NMU.

He was then brought on to Michigan State as a part-time assistant before leaving the state for the first time to be an assistant at Tulsa. He was gone for an eternity – two months. He returned to Michigan State as a full-time assistant, and the rest is history.

Even though he will live in eternity in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Michigan will forever be a part of Izzo, and his true home.

Here are 15 moments from Tom Izzo’s Hall of Fame career.


Michigan State vs. Illinois, 1996

Life is tough as a rookie coach. You have players you didn’t recruit, trying to fit a system they're not used to, and a lot of growing pains. However, after getting a win against Bobby Knight and Indiana, Izzo was able to pull off an upset against No. 13 Illinois on the road in Urbana-Champaign. He might have finished .500 for the season, but at least this was a good sign of things to come.


First Big Ten Title, 1998

Despite losing in an OT-thriller against Purdue, Tom Izzo was able to secure his first Big Ten title with one of his youngest teams. Led by sophomores Morris Peterson, Mateen Cleaves and freshman Charlie Bell, Izzo went 5-3 against ranked teams during the regular season, qualified for his first NCAA Tournament and made it to the Sweet Sixteen.

 

First trip to the Final Four, 1999

There’s always something special about the first time. Michigan State faced the path of least resistance heading to the Elite Eight, defeating the No. 16, No. 9 and No. 13-ranked teams in the Midwest Region. But when they faced their first real test against No. 3 Kentucky, they stepped up to the challenge. Morris Peterson scored a game-high 19 points, and Mateen Cleaves dished 11 assists to punch Izzo’s first ticket to the Final Four in his career four years after joining Michigan State.

 

Reaching the mountain top, 2000

After a heartbreaking loss in the 1999 Final Four, Michigan State found redemption as they reached the national title game for the first time since 1979. Battling against a talented Florida team with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller, Tom Izzo won his only national championship behind 21 points from Morris Peterson and the leadership of one of his favorite point guards, Mateen Cleaves.

 

Michigan State-Minnesota OT win, 2004

2003-2004 was not going well for Michigan State. They were ranked No. 3 in nation before losing to every ranked team they faced for the first three months of the season, knocking them out of the top 25. Their bad luck continued as they found themselves down by 23 points against unranked Minnesota. After a fiery halftime speech, the Spartans went on a tear in the second half to steal the game back in overtime.

 

 

Double overtime: Elite Eight vs. Kentucky, 2005

Shannon Brown made his mark in the NBA with his high-flying act, but in college he was one of the more dangerous scorers in country. He showed that against No. 2 Kentucky in the 2005 Elite Eight, where he scored 24 points on 10 shots to eliminate a Wildcat team led by Rajon Rondo, Randolph Morris and Chuck Hayes. The No. 5 seeded Spartans also got a boost from Paul Davis, who notched a 15-11 double-double in the win.


Final Four vs. UConn, 2009

It didn’t get any easier for the Spartans after they defeated Midwest Region No. 1 Louisville. They had to face Connecticut a with big-time center Hasheem Thabeet and unstoppable scorer A.J. Price. Izzo was able to draw up a plan that neutralized Price, forcing him to go 5-for-20 from the field. Kalin Lucas and Raymar Morgan combined to score 39 points and Michigan State made its second appearance in the national championship game.

 

 

Standing up for the Big Ten

Big Ten sports isn’t known to be some of the prettiest in country. For the past couple decades, critics expect ugly, defensive driven games, but don’t tell Tom Izzo that. Never one to pull a punch, he went in front of the media and outlined the unwarranted lack of respect that follows the Big Ten, and how wrong it is. Tell the media how you really feel, coach.


Michigan State Madness Intro, 2014

Tom Izzo as a member of KISS? What’s not to love?

 

Sweet 16 2009 Kansas

Tied 60-60 against Kansas with 1:07 left to go, Michigan State needed a good shot to put the pressure on the Jayhawks late in the game. He drew up a play that got Kalin Lucas — who was lighting up Kansas’ Sherron Collins — the ball in a 1-4 spread with 13 left in the shot clock. Lucas took care of the rest.

 

Korie Lucious game-winner vs. Maryland, 2010

It was the round of 32 in the NCAA tournament, Kalin Lucas was on crutches and Maryland's Greivis Vasquez and his 19.2 points per game was bearing down on them. There will never be a NCAA without drama, right? Lucious stepped up when Lucas went down, and gave Spartan fans a shot they won’t soon forget.


Izzo vs. Henning, 2010

A little background: When Mike Brown was fired from the Cleveland Cavaliers, Tom Izzo was a candidate to take over and coach LeBron James. Local media took the speculation and ran with it. Lynn Henning was a little more critical of Izzo’s approach, which made it really awkward when they were both at a press conference. Let it be known that, like Wu Tang Clan, Tom Izzo ain’t nothing…well, you know the rest.

 

Lacey Holsworth Vigil

As much as winning was important to Izzo, making an impact off the court was equally important. Lacy Holsworth was an 8-year-old leukemia patient that befriended Adreian Payne and the rest of the Michigan State basketball team. His emotional speech at the vigil embodies everything that Izzo believes in in terms of positively impacting the community.

 

500th win

Only eight Division I coaches have reached the 500 win milestone in 21 seasons. Tom Izzo is one of them. Behind an impressive 29-11-10 triple-double from Denzel Valentine, Izzo got his 500th win against Boston College and became a part of one of the most exclusive clubs in college coaching.

 

2016 NCAA Tournament loss


It is often said that you can judgment a man’s character in his defeats, not his victories. Tom Izzo showed how much love he has for his players despite a disappointing loss in the first round against Middle Tennessee. His own pain really shows through, but he does not hesitate to say how proud he was of the men who were under his care. That is the kind of coach that any player would run through a wall for.

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