At his annual season-ending press conference, which you can listen to here, Tom Izzo, who is now 64 and used to joke that he wouldn’t coach into his seventies, was asked if he sees the sun starting to set on his career. Izzo said that, before his team’s run this season, that may indeed have been the case, but gave credit to his players for reigniting his passion for coaching at Michigan State:
“If I did, that sun rose this year. That part where it’s going to set, if it was right here and it was setting, it’s back up here. Not just because of the season. Those players definitely reinvigorated me.”
This was Izzo’s 24th season as Head Coach of the team, and his 36th season overall coaching in East Lansing. Izzo hinted but did not directly say, that the recent sexual abuse scandals surrounding the University and his team were to blame for him losing some of his fire for the job.
“I think we needed to bring our university together and I think those kids did more than just win basketball games,” Izzo said. “For that, I will be eternally grateful.”
Izzo was very direct that it wasn’t the success of the team that has helped him return his passion, but it was the players themselves; their character, their fight, and their attitude off the court that has him feeling inspired.
Izzo wants his team to set an example for the University moving forward. As an alumnus myself, this really hits home, as I am beyond ashamed of the scandals that have continued to leak out about my alma mater:
“You tell your players all the time: ‘Be part of the solution, not part of the problem,'” Izzo said. “I think I’m in a position where I can help be part of the solution that’s even way bigger than basketball.”
For the sake of the University, as well as all the women who have been hurt by Michigan State faculty and athletes, I hope he is right. No matter what, Izzo has confirmed that he will be around to oversee his mission for the foreseeable future:
“It’s either a good thing or a bad thing, but they’re going to have me around for a while.”
