Like Kevin McAllister in ‘Home Alone’, Tom Izzo was scared of his basement

Michigan State is off to a hot start. The Spartans sank a school-record 18 threes in a 106-72 rout of Northern Iowa on Friday night. Throw in a statement victory over Duke at the Champions Classic earlier this week and Tom Izzo’s team has a decent case to be ranked atop the next round of polls.

There are plenty of reasons for fans of the only colors to be excited about the potential for this team. Izzo, as one might expect, isn’t quite ready to spike the football and never has a shortage of things he’d like to see improve.

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Izzo’s comments

During his postgame comments, the topic of communication came up and the Hall of Fame coached used it as a launching pad into some story time.

“Up in the U.P. where I lived, the basements up there are where the furnace is, and they’re always dark and they’re cold,’ Izzo said. ‘I used to go down there to get something for my mother. I was 8 years old, and you know what I did the whole way? I talked, ’cause I was scared to death… ‘How’s the weather up there, Mom?’ Anything that I could hear a voice, ’cause voices are comforting. When you don’t hear a voice, it’s not comforting.”

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Very relatable. There are literally dozens of us who have advanced deep into adulthood and still get a bit scared when there’s a task to be handled in dark storage room downstairs. It’s the type of irrational fear that tends to linger.

Nov 10, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo gestures to his team against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect (Reuters)

Izzo then made a societal point about what he’s observed coaching different generations

“Younger generation, you’ve got a lot of positives,” he said. ‘That ain’t one of them. Communication’s not one of them.”

Michigan State does have a very vocal leader in Jeremy Fears,…

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Publish date : 2026-11-14 14:15:00

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