John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith, Roy Williams. All highly acclaimed coaches who have had the pleasure of coaching at schools rich in basketball tradition such as UCLA, UNC, Duke, and Kansas. It comes as no surprise that these coaches make up the top four on the list of coaches with the most final four appearances of all time. So who's fifth? Bob Knight? Jim Boeheim? Jim Calhoun? Rick Pitino? None of the above; number five is Michigan State's Tom Izzo.
Even though most people are not overly familiar with Izzo, Michiganians certainly are. He was born and raised in Iron Mountain, Michigan, a mining town with a population of just over 8,000. He played college basketball at Northern Michigan and was named a Division II All-American his senior year. He then immediately went on to coach at Ishpeming High School, in Michigan, then became an assistant at Northern Michigan, then Michigan State and finally the head coach at MSU. It'd be a surprise to many, if Izzo has ever left the state of Michigan for reasons other than college basketball road trips.
Of course there was the two month stint as an assistant at University of Tulsa, but then he tapped his ruby slippers together three times and went back to his beloved home state. For Tom Izzo, there's no place like home.
Quite frankly, there has never been any reason to leave. Izzo has developed one of the strongest college basketball programs in the country since his head coaching tenure at MSU began in 1995.
Where to start? There's the thirteen straight NCAA tournament appearances, the six regular season Big Ten championships, the 35 tournament wins (only Roy Williams has more in that period), the three straight Final Four appearances from 1999 - 2001 (Izzo, Mike Krzyzewski and Ben Howland are the only three to do so since the tournament expansion to 64 teams in 1985), the six final fours, and a national coach of the year award, and of course, the most important statistic for Michigan State fans; the 18-3 career record against rival Michigan. Not too shabby.
When there is a guy who has been as successful as Izzo, with as little publicity as he has gotten, most people turn to one factor: championships. But Izzo got his ring in the 1999-2000 season. Sure you can say it's only one, but most college coaches are lucky if they get one, considering there are 347 teams contending for a title each year.
There are a lot of reasons why Izzo is not the first name that comes to mind when people think of great coaches. His team is in the overlooked Big Ten conference which is football-crazy and puts basketball on the back burner. Then there is his location; Michigan State is in the college town of East Lansing, MI with a population of only 46,525. Maybe it's just his name; Izzo doesn't sound very sexy.
All of those reasons and more contribute to why I'll be pulling for Michigan State this Final Four. This is a guy, who has stayed true to his roots, despite the fact that he has received offers from numerous other teams.
Then there are the way his teams play; Izzo's philosophy is based around toughness, so much so that Izzo's rebounding drills sometimes involve players wearing football pads. Izzo once said "players play - tough players win."
Izzo has a bit of a Napoleonic complex. At 5'9" on a good day, and as a coach in a conference that's falling behind in the college basketball ranks, Izzo has a bit of a fire in him, something to prove, and it shows. Izzo has never let the monsters of the Big East and ACC scare him off. He once told collegehoops.net, "We'll play anybody, anyplace, anytime. It doesn't matter, morning, noon or night, and it doesn't matter who it is."
Of course, there's Izzo's lighter side. He's known for his outrageous Midnight Madness entrances. He's dressed up as everything from a hippie to a race car driver driving an actual race car into the gym. The students love him so much, they even named the student section after him: the Izzone.
College basketball needs more guys like Izzo: professional and loyal, with a ruthless will to win but also a fun side.
Izzo has been at Michigan State for 15 years. Considering most dominant coaches coach at the same school for at least 30 years, at 55 years old, Izzo is looking pretty good to make it to 70. There is a lot more chance for success.
Hey, one thing is certainly clear based on Izzo's track record: he's not going anywhere, anytime soon.
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