Michigan State University head basketball coach Tom Izzo has been with the Spartans since 1995, and he’s the longest-tenured active Big Ten coach with more than 30 years of head coaching experience.
So, Izzo has seen plenty of changes during his career, and some of them he doesn’t like. Izzo is also not one to be quiet when it comes to his opinion, and now, he’s opening up about some of the changes that he’s seeing in college basketball that rub him the wrong way.
Earlier in the season, Izzo made it clear that he wasn’t happy about Louisville was adding former G League guard London Johnson. At the time, he called the decision to allow that to happen “embarrassing” and “ridiculous” for the sport. It’s a trend that’s continuing, with Baylor adding former NBA Draft pick James Nnaji and additional pros signing deals with college teams.
In an interview published on Friday, December 26, by NJ Advance Media, Izzo elaborated on that idea. “If we want to make it pro ball, then let’s make it pro ball,” Izzo told Adam Zagoria. “If not, let’s not.”
Izzo also commented that the trend will make college basketball coaches want to leave the game. He said that he was opening talking about it because he cares.
“Jay Wright out, Krzyzewski out, Roy Williams out, Tubby Smith out, all the guys that were on those committees, they’re all gone and we’re left,” he said. “Nick Saban, another good friend of mine, out. And it really doesn’t matter to me because I can leave whenever I want.”
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Izzo added, “But Jay Wright was the killer. And what is it doing, just think how many coaches got fired half way through the year in football. You know it’s going to happen in basketball.”
Then, when specifically asked if he believes this trend of letting former pros into college basketball would make more coaches leave the game, Izzo said, “Has anybody looked up? It already has.”
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He also made the point that a coach will always take a 23-year-old former pro over an 18-year old fresh out of high school, so it will hurt the players.