Michigan State's Tom Izzo has accomplished about as much as any coach could at the college level. But despite his longtime allegiance to the Spartans, the Hall of Famer admits he had some heavy flirtation with the NBA.
After being eliminated by UConn in the Sweet 16 this NCAA Tournament, Izzo sat down with Dan Patrick to discuss Dan Hurley and the Huskies — as well as the coach's recent courtship by the Lakers not too long ago.
That eventually led to Izzo dropping an interesting tidbit about his experience potentially making the jump to the pros which he says happened last year.
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Tom Izzo reveals he 'seriously' considered Phoenix Suns job
“I’ve had more than a couple job offers in the NBA,” Izzo told Patrick Wednesday. “And looked at one last year with Phoenix, you know. My former player, Mat Ishbia. That was hard, that was a hard thing to turn down, because No. 1 I kind of wanted to go with him.”
“Then No. 2 is I’ve been pretty vocal about it: I don’t like what’s going on in college athletics,” he admitted. “But by the way, neither do 99.8% of the football and basketball coaches in America. And I think the kids are going to still find out before it’s done it’s not best for them either."
“But in the meantime, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, and I’ll let guys like you call me old school. But that means you’re old school, too. But I think we’re both right school, so we’ll see what happens.”
Izzo talks Dan Hurley, 'insanity' in modern college basketball
Going back to the top of the conversation, Izzo shared that he didn't blame Hurley for taking the call from the Lakers — as much as he'd love to keep a coach of his caliber in the college game.
“I didn’t want to lose him in college basketball, because I think he’s so good for it,” Izzo explained. “But I did say we’ve got to keep an eye on what’s happening in our profession, too. I don’t know what I’d do if it was today."
“He had a chance about a year or two ago, and I think things are so crazy in college athletics right now, I don’t know if I’d feel different if I was to be very honest with you, because I think something has to be done with the insanity we’re going through," the HOFer continued. "But I don’t think anybody else cares, so I’ll just keep plugging along and see if I can get to a Final Four again."
Hurley is on his way to potentially winning his third national championship in four years with the Huskies — and it doesn't seem as if he'll be going anywhere soon if that were to happen.
