Michigan State’s Tom Izzo is the last man standing of the college basketball coaching old guard. Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina’s Roy Williams both announced their retirement within three months of each other in 2021. Less than a year later, Villanova’s Jay Wright did the same. Obviously, all three decided it was time, having felt that they have already achieved enough in the game (all members of this trio have won national titles, plural).
While Wright’s departure was shocking, as he seemed a bit young to be hanging it up, K and Williams were leaving at a very age-appropriate time.
They were also exiting the game at a time when it was seismically shifting. It’s possible that all three simply did not want to have to re-recruit their own entire team, every single offseason, because that’s where we are now. And one wonders if Tom Izzo will soon tire of the same.
Because the great Spartan program patriarch has certainly accomplished enough already. He has a national championship, eight Final Fours (5th most ever) and a March Madness record of 59-26. His 15 wins as the lower-seeded team (and hence the underdog) are the most in NCAA Tournament history, according to RG.org. He’s also 15-12 all-time as a lower seed.
However, it remains to be seen whether or not, he’s built for this brave new college basketball world where roster turnover is massive every single spring and summer. Nowadays, everyone is a one year rental, pure and simple.
Tom Izzo said, following the elimination loss to Auburn on Sunday, that he has never felt more “connected” to one of his teams. That says something, given how he’s been doing this since 1996.
The very next day the proverbial “glue guy,” Tre Holloman, entered the transfer portal.
The following State players are now out of eligibility: leading scorer Jaden Akins, Frankie Fidler and Syzmon Zapala. Holloman, a part-time starter who averaged 9.1 points, 3.7 assists and 23 minutes per game this past season, Gherig Normand and Xavier Booker are now in the portal.
The most talented player on this Spartans squad, Jase Richardson, is almost certainly heading to the NBA.
In other words, we’re going to see MSU turn over an almost entirely new team from the one that just won the Big Ten regular season and reached the Elite 8.
“All in all, the most unbelievable year I’ve had, the most connected year I’ve had,” Izzo said after losing to Auburn.
“I just appreciate what these guys did for myself, our program, our university, and our community.”
He then said the following about roster continuity and individual player loyalty to their school:
“I felt like it reinvigorated me to realize there’s still people out there that care about winning and care about getting better and care about playing for the school they’re at and care about playing with the players they’re with.
“In this day and age when it’s getting a little more selfish, that is rewarding, that is exciting, that is invigorating.”
You can retire that idea now, as MSU won’t be “getting old” next season.
And that’s really the elusive ideal right now in college hoops, getting and staying old. Look at the current Final Four, three of the four teams are built that way.
The fourth and final program, Duke, got there by just simply having 5-star, blue-chip, McDonald’s All-American freaks of nature.
Tom Izzo and Michigan State (as well as Purdue, they’re a good example of this as well), have stood up as a testament to the traditional way of doing things. Building through high school recruiting, not the portal.
But that seems to be falling by the wayside now, welcome to capitalism without constraints college basketball.
It’s laisezz-fair on steroids, runaway “free markets,” cowboy capitalism transfer portals now. I mean, the Illini just lost their “glue guy,” Morez Johnson, to Michigan, so really anything goes at this point. It’s enough to drive Tom Izzo, 70, faster towards retirement (at least potentially).
Behold endless free agency, with an ethos that is quite similar to what just happened with college football conference realignment.
Forget traditions and loyalty; at all. Of course, Tom Izzo and Michigan State have a whole lot to sell in this deregulated landscape. The “January, February, Izzo” t-shirts exist for a reason.
But that might only go so far in this new paradigm, and before too long, Izzo might just be like “nah, I’m good dawg. I’ve had a nice run already.”
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. 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.