WASHINGTON–It was almost midnight on Saturday after Tom Izzo michigan state The 71-year-old coach was asked where he sees himself in five years after the team fell in the Sweet 16.
“Trying to win a national championship – simple as that,” he said.
Izzo has led Michigan State to the Final Four and captured the Big Ten’s most recent national title in men’s basketball in 2000. He wouldn’t face much trouble if he decided he wanted to exit the game like many of his peers – in a new day and age dominated by transfer portals and ideas of name, image and likeness.
Instead, it seems as if he is not even considering such a scenario.
“We all talk about retirement,” Izzo said after the Spartans lost 67-63 To Yukon. “Why? What the hell am I going to do? The moment I don’t feel good, the moment I don’t feel like I’m giving every ounce of my energy every day to my AD or the president or the school or that energy diminishes, you don’t have to worry about it. I don’t steal money. I won’t steal anybody’s time.”
Izzo hasn’t been to the Final Four since 2019 – the longest drought of his career. But he immediately called the future bright for the Spartans Jeremy Fears Jr. And koen carr – with eligibility still remaining – both left the postgame podium after a tough loss, in which Michigan State fell 25–6 and came back to take the lead in the second half.
“Tomorrow I’m going to the portal,” Izzo said. “The only difference is that Michigan State’s portal is different than most places’ portals. I’m going to go right into my locker room, and I’m going to talk to each player right there. I’m going to make some decisions about what we’re going to do that I feel very comfortable with.”
Izzo expects to bring back seven to eight players from what he described as a strong freshman class.
“I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I’m just not lucky enough to play on Sunday,” Izzo said. “I’ll get a chance to play another Sunday. Wait.”
