Tom Izzo must adapt if he wants another national title

Look, Tom Izzo is a Hall of Famer. He has appeared in 28 consecutive NCAA tournaments, the longest ever streak by a coach at one school, and has eight Final Four appearances under his belt. He has made the championship game twice, winning one back in 2000. In his 31 years as head coach, he has never had a losing season. The 71-year-old coach has a 71% career winning percentage in almost 1100 total games.

And yet, I believe he has to do more if Michigan State is ever going to make it back to another championship game before he retires.

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The State of the NCAA

It’s no secret that Izzo is not a fan of the NCAA. He was just recently on the Dan Patrick Show where he discussed NIL and the state of the NCAA basketball: “To me, NIL means ‘pay-for-play’…the only difference is it’s still sort of illegal, but it’s not illegal. That’s what’s so hard, so confusing. Who says what’s legal and not legal anymore, ya know? I don’t know.”

Later on when Dan asked him about retirement, Tom said, “I think I’m just too stubborn to retire…I feel good, I still have the energy, I still love my players, but I don’t love my profession.”

During the pre-game press conference before the UConn game, Tom was asked why he keeps coming back given his historic résumé. His response: “I’m not ready to give in to the system, even though I think the system is broken.”

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Sorry, Tom, but it’s time to stop complaining about the system – instead, start using it to your advantage.

Roster Construction

To take another quote from the Dan Patrick Show, Izzo said, “Everybody talks about three-point shooting ‘cause it’s the new sexy thing, but at the end of the day I think you gotta be balanced in what you do.”

Sure, I guess? Again, maybe we stop ranting and take advantage of the “new sexy thing” instead.

Tom, did you know that MSU hasn’t been ranked in the upper half of the B1G in three-point attempts since 2017?

2018: 9/14 in attempts, 1/14 in…

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Publish date : 2026-04-07 11:19:00

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