‘Mr. March’: The philosophy that has Tom Izzo & Michigan State on verge of their ninth Final Four

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Michigan State basketball head coach Tom Izzo is known around the college basketball world as “Mr. March.”

Over the 30 years he has been at the helm, Izzo has racked up one national championship, eight Final Four appearances, and 16 Sweet Sixteen runs. The Spartans have reached the NCAA Tournament for 27 consecutive years—the longest standing record in the sport. This consistency comes from the identity Izzo ingrains in every player he brings to East Lansing, signified by the team’s motto: “Defend, Rebound and Run.”

It all started in his first year coaching against Arkansas. The Razorbacks were coming off a championship, while Izzo was still learning the ropes after being called up to replace retired MSU head coach Jud Heathcote.

“I think for my whole career, it started when we grabbed 26 offensive rebounds against Arkansas, who was one of the toughest teams in the country,” Izzo said. “We have built on that and stuck with it ever since. We still defend and rebound.”

It was 24 offensive rebounds and 47 total to be exact, but this mantra is exactly how Izzo broke Bob Knight’s all-time Big Ten wins record this year en route to guiding the Spartans to the 2025 Big Ten regular-season championship and a No. 2 seed in March Madness. Even with all of the changes to playstyle in modern basketball and in the NIL era, Izzo has stayed true to what he believes wins games, and it hasn’t let him down yet this season.

While Michigan State doesn’t rank among the elites in offensive statistics (besides free-throw shooting), the team grinds opponents down with suffocating defense that leads to fastbreak opportunities. Freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr.—the Spartans’ leader with 5.4 assists per game—sets the tone for this approach, and combined with a 10-player rotation, it leaves opponents too tired to put up a fight near the end of a 40-minute contest.

“Jeremy is starting to really push the ball. We’re getting…

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Publish date : 2025-03-27 14:50:00

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