Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo hasn’t minced words on college basketball’s ever-changing landscape in recent years and admitted this week that he considered leaving Michigan State for a vacancy in the NBA last summer.
Izzo, who just finished his 31st season with the Spartans after reaching the Sweet 16, first interviewed for a position in the pro ranks with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010.
In 2025, Izzo says he was close to becoming the coach of the Phoenix Suns, who ultimately hired Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott.
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“I’ve had more than a couple job offers in the NBA,” Izzo said this week on the Dan Patrick Show. “That one last year with Phoenix and my former player, Mat Ishbia. That was hard, that was a hard thing to turn down. No. 1, I kind of wanted to go with him. … We talked seriously about it, let’s say that.
“No. 2, I’ve been pretty vocal about it. I don’t like what’s going on in college athletics. By the way, neither do 99.8% of the football and basketball coaches in America. I think the kids are going to still find out before it’s done that it’s not best for them either.”
Ishbia, the majority owner of the Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, played for Izzo at Michigan State from 1999-02 and was part of the Spartans’ 2000 national championship squad.
UConn coach Dan Hurley previously said he had a conversation with Izzo, 71, while he was contemplating taking the vacancy with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024, before choosing to remain with the Huskies.
Izzo, who at the time encouraged the two-time national champion to stay in college basketball, said he might have different advice for a colleague who came to him asking for wisdom in the current landscape.
“I don’t know what I’d do if it was today,” Izzo said. “(Hurley) had the chance about a year or two ago, I think things are so crazy in college athletics right now. I don’t know if I’d feel different, to be very honest with you, but I think something has to be done with the insanity we’re going through, but I don’t think anybody else cares. I’ll just keep plucking along and see if I can get to a Final Four again.”
Hurley’s team beat Izzo and the Spartans in the Sweet 16 before ousting top-seeded Duke with a buzzer-beater in the Elite Eight. Following the loss, Izzo called out the NCAA’s transfer portal policy.
“The only difference is the portal at Michigan State is different than the portal at most places,” Izzo said. “I’m going right to my fricking locker room, and I’m going to talk to each and every player right there. I’m going to make some decisions about what we’re going to do that I feel very comfortable with.”
The longest-tenured active men’s coach in college basketball, Izzo previously ripped the structure of the transfer portal and the enforcement of transfers — or lack thereof — earlier this season and said coaches are currently working in an unsustainable system.
“Even in the NFL, NBA, you don’t tamper with a guy who has a four-year contract,” Izzo, who’s in favor of a one-time transfer rule, said in August. “The portal never closes because you have too many dirtbags who are tampering with people and players. The worst thing I see is the tampering.”