Sean Merriman, BTN.com web editor, April 30, 2014
Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo told ESPN's Andy Katz and Seth Greenberg that he will remain with the Spartans next season, despite rumors that he is a candidate for openings in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons.
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Izzo appeared as a guest on today's edition of ESPNU College Basketball Podcast.
"First of all, I'm going to be at Michigan State," Izzo said. "Put it this way, I got a big time recruit coming in here in about an hour, so if I was leaving, I wouldn't be recruiting."
Izzo was considered a candidate for the Cleveland Cavilers head coaching job back in 2010 and strongly considered the position before ultimately deciding to stay in East Lansing.
"The NBA is the NBA and it's the top of our profession," Izzo said. "Everybody is going to take care of their family. Everybody is going to look for what's best. The only thing that disappoints me about college is that we're getting like the NBA — money, TV contracts and the way we're doing things with expansion of leagues and traveling all over the world. Unlike football, we have a game on the road, it's a 9:00 game and you get back at 3 a.m. and have academic issues. We're not a Saturday game-type thing.
"There's issues everywhere, and I'm just fortunate I got a good job and I've had some success. Success means sometimes there's rumors and sometimes there opportunities. I guarantee you this, if we didn't have success, there would be none."
Izzo will enter his 20th season as the Spartans head coach. He has a career record of 468-187 (.715), which includes six Final Four appearances and a National Championship in 2000. The Spartans lost to the eventual national champion UConn in the Elite Eight this season.
