{"id":1629,"date":"2023-03-30T21:23:46","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T02:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=1629"},"modified":"2023-03-30T21:23:46","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T02:23:46","slug":"after-exit-meetings-michigan-state-coach-tom-izzo-hopeful-about-keeping-crew-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/after-exit-meetings-michigan-state-coach-tom-izzo-hopeful-about-keeping-crew-together\/","title":{"rendered":"After exit meetings, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo hopeful about \u2018keeping crew together\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

East Lansing, Mich. <\/em>\u2013 Michigan State<\/strong><\/a> basketball coach Tom Izzo <\/strong><\/a>would normally be heading to the Final Four at this time of year, whether his team qualified or not. But this year, Izzo is staying home.<\/p>\n

Head coaches, and many assistants, traditionally travel to the Final Four<\/strong><\/a> to watch the games with colleagues, do some networking and maybe blow off some steam.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided not to go this year for a variety of reasons,\u201d Izzo said on Thursday during a guest spot on the \u201cStaudt on Sports\u201d<\/strong><\/a> radio show, which airs on weekdays from 10 am to 1 pm on WFVN-AM 730 in Lansing. \u201cUsually you get a little time off at this time, but with the way everything is going, there is none of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The difficult puzzle of roster management requires time and attention from a coaching staff beginning the minute their season ends. That\u2019s been true for Izzo and Michigan State<\/strong><\/a> this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is interesting, but it is what it is, so you adjust,\u201d Izzo said.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, sophomore wing Pierre Brooks announced he<\/strong><\/a> is leaving Michigan State<\/strong><\/a> to enter the transfer portal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brooks, a former Mr. Basketball Award winner in the state of Michigan, fell out of the playing group in the last third of the season. His departure was not a surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, we love Pierre and sometimes every place is not for everybody,\u201d Izzo said. \u201cSo everybody should have the ability to transfer, but to be able to transfer and be eligible to immediately \u2026 right now we have total free agency every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

MICHIGAN STATE\u2019S TOM IZZO RELATIVELY CONFIDENT<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Izzo had exit meetings with each of his players this week, and feels good about the short-term and long-term future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m relatively confident,\u201d Izzo said. \u201cWhat time is it? It\u2019s 12:13. At least until 12:15, I\u2019m really confident that I\u2019m going to keep my job and those guys want to be back. But things change. They really do.<\/p>\n

\u201cPut it this way: My meetings went well and everything. I feel really good about my guys. But in all honestly, I don\u2019t think there is a coach in America that has any clue what\u2019s going on, and that\u2019s sad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior combo guard Tyson Walker<\/strong><\/a> and senior wing Malik Hall <\/strong><\/a>are considering returning for an extra year of eligibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sources tell SpartanMag<\/strong><\/a> that the possibilities of Walker returning have crept above 50 percent, if not well above 50.<\/p>\n

Hall\u2019s decision to return could be affected by which players come back to Michigan State.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Senior forward Joey Hauser<\/strong><\/a> said late in the season that he likely will not petition for an extra year of eligibility. He also said, \u201cNever say never.\u201d<\/p>\n

Izzo didn\u2019t speak about any returning players individually.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to meet with your players, figure out who\u2019s here, who\u2019s coming, who\u2019s going, what\u2019s out there, what\u2019s going on,\u201d Izzo said. \u201cThere are so many things that have changed in the last three or four years, most of it is all these stupid rules that have changed the game \u2013 the transfers, the NIL. I\u2019m working on NIL stuff today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, Michigan State<\/strong><\/a> was surprised by Julius Marble\u2019s<\/strong><\/a> abrupt decision on April 19, 2022 to leave Michigan State<\/strong><\/a> and enter the transfer portal. He eventually landed at Texas A&M<\/strong><\/a>, closer to his Dallas home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can keep our crew together, I think we have a chance to be really, really good next year,\u201d Izzo said. \u201cFor that, I\u2019m grateful and looking forward to it and we\u2019ll see what happens in the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Izzo is likely paranoid about other programs coming after players such as Tre Holloman<\/strong><\/a>, Jaden Akins<\/a><\/strong> and possibly even Hall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy from Kansas State that made all those 3s against us, the big guy (Ismael Massoud), the next day, he didn\u2019t play very good and the next day he\u2019s in the portal,\u201d Izzo said. \u201cThat\u2019s just the way it is. Thank God right now I don\u2019t have much of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard some things at Minnesota where those guys are complaining about what happens in the handshake lines.\u201d<\/p>\n

The insinuation is that coaching staff members \u201cbump\u201d opposing players in the handshake line for the purpose of gaining transfer interest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is where we\u2019re heading,\u201d Izzo said. \u201cPretty soon coaches will hate coaches. And it\u2019s kind of an ugly part of the underbelly of all this stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Izzo took the opportunity during his guest appearance on the radio show to stump for reform, which he knows isn\u2019t likely to happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes it difficult for the coaches in roster management of course,\u201d he said. \u201cNobody wants to feel sorry for the coaches or the schools because everybody thinks they make so much money and the players should have the freedom to do what they want, but there is a responsibility with that freedom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve said the whole time in the end the players are going to lose out. You are seeing the ugly side of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat people don\u2019t realize, and I hope people realize, is that this isn\u2019t as good for the players as everybody thinks. Freedom in our country is great, but freedom to make decisions when you\u2019re 18 or 15 or 21, those are not always good moves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know how I feel about the rules. More important than damaging college sports is it\u2019s going to damage the kids. There are kids that are on their third and fourth school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now you have lawyers and agents in the high schools and stuff that is just insane.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is what it is and right now I still feel great about the guys I\u2019ve got. I still feel great that I have a chance to change peoples\u2019 lives. I get a chance to lead a program and an institution that I\u2019ve loved for almost 40 years now. But pretty soon coaches are going to be running people off and doing things that we\u2019ve never seen done. We have some teams in our league go through that last year. Not here, thank God, not here, so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

IZZO: MICHIGAN STATE HAD \u2018PRETTY GOOD YEAR\u2019<\/h2>\n

Kansas State<\/a><\/strong>, Miami<\/a><\/strong> and others that went far in the NCAA Tournament benefitted from the transfer portal. Izzo didn\u2019t deny that.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can say so, but you can say that it didn\u2019t work out for other teams that were pretty talented,\u201d Izzo said. \u201cI can think of a couple in our league that I won\u2019t mention that it really hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michigan State<\/strong><\/a> went 21-13 and finished in a tie for second place in the Big Ten this season. The Spartans advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 15th time in Izzo\u2019s career and the 21st time in school history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel fortunate that I think we had a pretty good year,\u201d Izzo said. \u201cPeople say, \u2018You had a great year, you were the last Big Ten team (alive).\u2019 No we didn\u2019t. We didn\u2019t win enough games during the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think of some of the injuries and things and the good teams, it was tough. But I felt pretty good about how our team got better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the guys have been great. We have a great bunch of guys. We have kept them all together the best we can. We have stayed pretty home-grown. Am I going to be able to do that in the future? I don\u2019t know. I just know that I enjoy that, enjoy the relationships.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd maybe that\u2019s the best thing I can say to make people understand is I would rather we have it relationship-based where maybe the community appreciates some of these guys and that they are lasting relationships rather than just being transactional six or eight months and then they go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still love my job. It was fun to sit down with the different guys in the last two days and hear what some of them said and hear how positive they were about some things.<\/p>\n

The post After exit meetings, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo hopeful about \u2018keeping crew together\u2019<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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