In any given field, you have certain individuals who just simply achieve rarified air: Marc Andreessen in software engineering, Taylor Swift in music, Kristin Juszczyk in fashion design. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo is that for Big Ten men’s basketball, and current Minnesota Timberwolves G/F and Illini great Terrence Shannon Jr. recognized that.
THE WINNINGEST COACH IN BIG TEN HISTORY. pic.twitter.com/Ij6WbU21jo
— Michigan State Men’s Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) February 16, 2025
Shannon was on hand at State Farm Center last night to see his jersey raised to the rafters at halftime of #11 Michigan State’s 79-65 win at Illinois.
Unfortunately for Shannon, the jersey was mistakenly inverted, and the gaffe almost feels like a perfect metaphor for Illinois’ season.
Ranked as high as #13 in the AP poll in early January, the Illini are now looking like a team that could end up in a NCAA Tournament #8 vs #9 game when all is said and done.
They project as about a #7 seed right now.
But after seeing his Illini fall to Izzo’s Spartans at home, Terrence Shannon Jr. went to the MSU locker room to congratulate Izzo on Big Ten conference win #354.
Izzo is now in sole possession of the all-time league wins record.
“That was really classy. I told Terrence if he hadn’t played here, I’d have done it a lot sooner,” Izzo said.
After the game, Izzo met the media, where he reminded them of how he was “the sacrificial lamb in New York,” for Mike Krzyzewski, when Coach K won his NCAA record 903rd game.
That came on November 15th, of 2011 when Duke beat Michigan State at Madison Square Garden 74-69.
Last night saw Illini coach Brad Underwood served in that role for Izzo.
“It stinks,” Underwood said to the media in postgame.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor 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 currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.