With Michigan State headed to Chicago area, for the only time this season, we revisit this exclusive interview with Drew Valentine, discussing Tom Izzo and MSU, from Chicago College Basketball Media Day
Loyola head coach Drew Valentine is part of the illustrious Tom Izzo coaching tree, and that is a unique place to be right now. In recent years, several national championship winning, blue-blood program leading coaches have all retired. Jay Wright, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams…and it created a star power drain.
Now, all you really have left is Izzo, Bill Self and John Calipari, in regards to headliner, rock star college basketball coaches.
College basketball, the game itself, and the state of the game means so much to him,” Valentine said of his mentor, during our exclusive at the Chicago College Basketball Tipoff Luncheon.
He’s been pretty vocal about how he feels about the way the game is going.
Izzo, 68, just signed another contract extension at Michigan State, and he enters his 29th year as head coach, 41st overall, at the university.
Drew’s brother, Denzel Valentine, is simply put, a Michigan State legend. Denzel won numerous plaudits during his time in E.L. including the Julius Erving Award (best small forward in the nation) and several national player of the year honors.
He was also the 2015 Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player award during his very decorated career with the Spartans. He was drafted in the middle of the first round by the Chicago Bulls.
Drew Valentine was a GA under Izzo for three seasons, 2013-2015. He extolled the virtues of his former boss.
“The way that he has gone about building a program is one that all young coaches want to emulate and I was fortunate enough to be under his tutelage for two years, and to be a part of his program for a lifetime, with my dad being there, and my brother being an all-time great there.”
Valentine’s father, Carlton, played at Michigan State, and is currently the head coach of the basketball program at J. W. Sexton High School, where both brothers attended, in Lansing, Michigan.
Izzo’s hardliner/”tough love” style is controversial to say the least. He’s notorious for his temper, and his methods of consistently yelling have been labeled abusive by some. Izzo has sort of replaced Bobby Knight as the poster child for this authoritarian style of leadership.
While studies have shown that adults screaming at children can be just as harmful to their development as sexual or physical abuse, the “fiery” method of “coaching ’em up” is very pervasive and widely accepted in sports.
It is also worth mentioning that college basketball players aren’t exactly “kids,” even though they are often referred to as such.
They all arrive on campus over the legal adult classification age of 18.
“I just think he knows what to takes to win,” Valentine responded, when we brought up the idea of Izzo having a bombastic, ultra-disciplinarian kind of reputation.
“He knows the standards, he knows what it looks like, more importantly I think he knows what it takes to grow young men, as individuals, and help then accomplish their dreams.
“And I think my brother is a perfect example of somebody who has been through his program and grew as a person, and as a player was able to help his family out to where his family doesn’t really have to worry about much right now.”
Naturally, we followed by asking would your players call you a hard-liner disciplinarian?
“I think so,” he answered during our exclusive at the Chicago Sports Museum.
“I’ve been around it, I know what it takes to win, I’ve been in college basketball for 12 years as a player or a coach, and I’ve only not won 20 games in two of those 12 years. I see some championship rings right there (at the museum display case), I know what it’s like to win those.”
And that is really the gist of it, right there. Drew Valentine cut right to the chase- the ends justify the means. If you win, then all the screaming and yelling just means you’re a “strong leader.”
If you lose, then the same behavior is branded “borderline abusive.”
Finally we asked his thoughts on MSU being ranked so high this preseason.
“They’ve been able to retain their best guys, and build a program,” Valentine answered.
“And I’m excited to watch them.”
Drew Valentine (35-29, 17-19 in the league at Loyola) and his team have an exhibition on Sunday Oct. 29 against Trinity Christian. They’ll open the season Wednesday Nov. 8 against Florida Atlantic.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.