Tom Izzo Information & Tom Izzo Links at HealthHaven.com

**Tom Izzo**
Tom Izzo
	;
Title	Head coach
College	Michigan State
Sport	Basketball
Team record	360–144 (.714)
Born	January 30, 1955 (age 55)
Place of birth	Iron Mountain, Michigan, USA
	Career highlights
Championships
	NCAA Division I Championship: (2000); Regional Championships - Final Four: (1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009); Big Ten Championship: (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2009, 2010); Big Ten Tournament Championship: (1999, 2000); Accomplishments; NCAA Championship Games: (2000, 2009); Elite Eight: (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009); Sweet 16: (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009); NCAA Tournament Bids: (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
Awards
	Associated Press National Coach of the Year (1998); Henry Iba Award (1998); Big Ten Coach of the Year (1998, 2009)
Playing career
1973–1977	Northern Michigan
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1977–1978; 1979–1983; 1983–1995; 1995–present	Ishpeming HS; Northern Michigan (asst.); Michigan State (asst.); Michigan State

Tom Izzo (pronounced /ˈɪzoʊ/; born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach. Since 1995, he has been the head coach for the Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team, presiding over a prolonged period of success in the program's history.

Under Izzo, the Michigan State program has been one of the most successful in the country. Izzo has led the Spartans to the 2000 NCAA Division I National Championship, five Final Fours, and six Big Ten Championships in his first 15 years at Michigan State. The winningest coach in school history, Izzo's teams have been invited to the past 12 consecutive NCAA tournaments, in addition to setting the Big Ten record for the longest home winning streak. These accomplishments led an analyst at ESPN to deem Michigan State college basketball's top program in the decade from 1998 to 2007.^[1] Every MSU Basketball player who has stayed four years under Coach Izzo has played in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament; under no other current coach is that true.

Currently the longest tenured coach in the Big Ten Conference, Izzo, whose teams are often recognized for their rebounding prowess and defensive tenacity, has won four national coach of the year awards and maintains a considerable coaching tree—several of his former assistants are currently head coaches at other Division I schools.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Playing career

Born and raised in Iron Mountain, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Izzo attended Northern Michigan University in Marquette from 1973 to 1977, where he played guard for the men's basketball team. In his senior season, he set a school record for minutes played and was named a Division II All-American.

[edit] Early coaching career

After graduating from Northern Michigan, Izzo was head coach at Ishpeming High School for one season. He then took an assistant coaching job at Northern Michigan University from 1979 to 1983. Izzo was then named a part-time assistant at Michigan State in September 1983. After a short two month stay as an assistant coach at University of Tulsa, Izzo returned to Michigan State when assistant Mike Deane left to become head coach at Siena College. Prior to the 1990–91 season, then-current coach Jud Heathcote elevated Izzo to associate head coach. After Heathcote's retirement following the 1994-95 season and upon both his and the Michigan State Athletic Director's recommendation, Izzo was named the new head coach of men's basketball for MSU.

[edit] Head coach at Michigan State

Hired as head coach at Michigan State in 1995, Izzo is currently the longest-tenured basketball coach in the Big Ten Conference. He is the winningest coach in school history winning his 341st game on November 29, 2009 to surpass Heathcote. Michigan State began a streak of twelve straight NCAA tournament appearances, which is the 5th longest current streak among Division I teams. During that run only Roy Williams (35) has more NCAA tournament wins than Tom Izzo (31). Izzo also joins Krzyzewski and Ben Howland as the only three coaches that have made three consecutive Final Fours since the NCAA tournament bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Tom Izzo has coached his teams to six regular-season Big Ten championships, two Big Ten Tournament titles, five NCAA Final Four appearances, and one NCAA national championship. He currently holds a record of 18–3 versus rival Michigan, with five U-M "wins" vacated. Since he became head coach, every player that he has recruited and who completed their full eligibility has gone to the Final Four. Eighty-two percent of his players who completed their eligibility left MSU with a degree. Izzo fell short of obtaining his 2nd national championship on April 6, 2009, losing to North Carolina 89–72. His streak of three straight Final Four appearances from 1999 to 2001 is the third-longest of all time, and his five Final Four appearances in the years 1999–2009 were matched by no other team in college basketball.

[edit] Coaching philosophy

We’ll play anybody, anyplace, anytime. It doesn’t matter, morning, noon or night, and it doesn’t matter who it is.

Tom Izzo ^[2]

Izzo's teams are known for guard play, toughness and rebounding. Izzo got attention when people learned of his "war" rebounding drills, in which the players have sometimes worn football helmets and shoulder pads.^[3] His motto is "Players Play – Tough Players Win".^[4] His other coaching philosophy is that "he doesn't determine playing time, players do."

[edit] High School Player Development

[edit] High School All-Americans

Twelve High School All-Americans have played for Tom Izzo at MSU:

1995: Mateen Cleaves (M, P, U)
1999: Jason Richardson (M, P, U)
2000: Marcus Taylor (M), Zach Randolph (M, P, U,)
2001: Kelvin Torbert (M, P, U)
2002: Paul Davis (M, P)
2003: Shannon Brown (M, P), Brandon Cotton (M, P)
2004: Drew Neitzel (P)
2006: Raymar Morgan (P, E)
2007: Delvon Roe (P, E)
2008: Draymond Green (P), Delvon Roe (N)

M = McDonald's All-Americans P = Parade All-America Boys Basketball Team N = Sporting News E = EA Sports All-America U = USA Today

[edit] Mr Basketball

Ten Mr. Basketball winners have played for Tom Izzo at MSU.

[edit] Mr. Basketball of Michigan

1999: Jason Richardson, Saginaw Arthur Hill
2000: Marcus Taylor, Lansing Waverly
2001: Kelvin Torbert, Flint Northwestern High School
2002: Paul Davis, Rochester High School
2004: Drew Neitzel, Wyoming Park High School
2009: Derrick Nix, Detroit Pershing

[edit] Illinois Mr. Basketball

2003: Shannon Brown, Proviso East High School

[edit] Ohio

1997: Andre Hutson, Trotwood Madison
2006: Raymar Morgan, Canton McKinley

As selected by the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association

[edit] Minnesota

2006: Isaiah Dahlman, Braham

[edit] College Player Development

[edit] College All-America honors

Under Izzo, six Spartans have won All-America honors

Chris Hill was a three-time Academic All-American in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and was named the 2005 "ESPN The Magazine" Academic All-American of the Year and 2005 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar of the Year. Drew Neitzel also earned Academic All-America accolades in 2008.

[edit] All-Big Ten

Under Izzo fifteen different players have earned first or second team All-Big Ten conference recognition and three have been named Player of the Year.

[edit] Big Ten Player of the Year

[edit] First Team

[edit] Second Team

2001: Charlie Bell, Andre Hutson
2003: Chris Hill
2004: Chris Hill
2005: Alan Anderson, Maurice Ager
2006: Maurice Ager, Shannon Brown, Paul Davis
2008: Drew Neitzel, Raymar Morgan
2009: Goran Suton

[edit] Sixth Man of the Year

2010: Draymond Green

[edit] NBA Player Development

[edit] NBA Draft

Since 2000, eleven players have been selected in the NBA draft, third most in the NCAA. Six of those went in the first round. Some of the notable former players under Tom Izzo now in the NBA are (current team):

Morris Peterson (New Orleans Hornets)
Charlie Bell (Milwaukee Bucks)
Mateen Cleaves (formerly of the Seattle SuperSonics)
Zach Randolph (Memphis Grizzlies)
Jason Richardson (Phoenix Suns)
Erazem Lorbek (Indiana Pacers currently playing for PBC CSKA Moscow)
Marcus Taylor (Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2nd round (52nd pick overall) of the 2002 NBA Draft
Alan Anderson(formerly of the Charlotte Bobcats, now playing in Italy)
Shannon Brown (Los Angeles Lakers)
Maurice Ager (New Jersey Nets)
Paul Davis (Washington Wizards).

[edit] NBA Championships

On June 14, 2009 Shannon Brown of the Los Angeles Lakers became the first former player under head coach Tom Izzo to win an NBA Championship.

[edit] NBA Slam Dunk Contest

Two of Izzo's former players were selected to take part in the NBA's Slam Dunk Contest, Jason Richardson and Shannon Brown. Jason Richardson was a back-to-back winner of NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest in 2002 and 2003.

[edit] Coaching Tree

[edit] Coaching tree

Several of Izzo's former assistants are currently head coaches at other schools:

In addition, Mike Garland previously was head coach at Cleveland State, and Stan Joplin was formerly the head coach of University of Toledo.

[edit] USA basketball

Izzo was head coach of the USA Basketball men's team at the 2003 Pan American Games. Prior to that he was assistant coach of the team that had a 5–0 record and won the gold medal at the 2001 Goodwill Games. Izzo served on the Collegiate Committee of USA Basketball's 2005-2008 Quadrennium Committees.^[5]

[edit] Operation Hardwood

In 2005 and 2006, Izzo participated in Operation Hardwood, in which college coaches went to Kuwait military camps to coach basketball teams of American service members. Among the other coaches were Tubby Smith, Gary Williams, and Rick Barnes. In 2005, Izzo's team won the tournament championship.

[edit] Head coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Michigan State (Big Ten Conference) (1995–Current)
1995–1996	Michigan State	16–16	9–9	7th	NIT 2nd Round
1996–1997	Michigan State	17–12	9–9	T–6th	NIT 2nd Round
1997–1998	Michigan State	22–8	13–3	T–1st	NCAA Sweet 16
1998–1999	Michigan State	33–5	15–1	1st	NCAA Final Four
1999–2000	Michigan State	32–7	13–3	T–1st	NCAA Champions
2000–2001	Michigan State	28–5	13–3	T–1st	NCAA Final Four
2001–2002	Michigan State	19–12	10–6	5th	NCAA 1st Round
2002–2003	Michigan State	22–13	10–6	T–3rd	NCAA Elite Eight
2003–2004	Michigan State	18–12	12–4	T–2nd	NCAA 1st Round
2004–2005	Michigan State	26–7	13–3	2nd	NCAA Final Four
2005–2006	Michigan State	22–12	8–8	T–6th	NCAA 1st Round
2006–2007	Michigan State	23–12	8–8	T–7th	NCAA 2nd Round
2007–2008	Michigan State	27–9	12–6	4th	NCAA Sweet 16
2008–2009	Michigan State	31–7	15–3	1st	NCAA Runner-Up
2009–2010	Michigan State	24–7	14–4	T–1st
Michigan State:		360–144	174–76
Total:		360–144
National Champion Conference Regular Season Champion Conference Tournament Champion Conference Regular Season & Conference Tournament Champion Conference Division Champion

[edit] Quotations

“We’ll play anybody, anyplace, anytime. It doesn’t matter, morning, noon or night, and it doesn’t matter who it is.”^[6]
"Players Play – Tough Players Win."^[7]
"I'm so sick of people saying, 'He's a defensive coach, he's a rebounding coach.' I want to be a great defensive coach, a great rebounding coach, a great running-game coach, a great offensive-execution coach, a great special-teams-sidelines-out-of-bounds coach. I want utopia. I want my players to want utopia."^[8]
"Learn to listen, Listen to learn"

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

Izzo's .756 winning percentage (31-10 record) in the NCAA tournament ranks third among all active coaches with 10 or more games coached:
- 1. Mike Krzyzewski, Duke, 72-22 (.766)
- 2. Billy Donovan, Florida, 22-7 (.759)
- 3. Tom Izzo, Michigan State, 31-10 (.756)
- 4. Rick Pitino, Louisville, 37-12 (.755)
- 5. Roy Williams, North Carolina, 52-17 (.754)

Named his son Steven Thomas Mateen Izzo, in honor of his best friend and former NFL head coach, Steve Mariucci, and also Mateen Cleaves, point guard on the 2000 National Championship Team^[9]
Inducted to the Northern Michigan University Hall of Fame in 1991 and the Upper Peninsula Hall of Fame in 1997
Every MSU Basketball player who has stayed four years under Coach Izzo has played in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament. Under no other current coach is that true.
On January 30, 2010 his winning percentage in Big Ten games ranks 1st all-time among league coaches with at least 10 years of service.
Has appeared in 8 of the last 12 Sweet Sixteens
Has appeared in 5 of the last 11 FINAL Fours

[edit] References

^ Katz, Andy (May 7, 2007). "Spartans' performance stacks up against anyone's". ESPN.com (ESPN). http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2862538. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
^ McNeill, Kevin (November 19th, 2005). "Maui Invitational: Strength of Schedule". collegehoops.net. http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/columns/kevinmcneill/051119.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
^ Shelton, Gary. "Spartans are bruisers, and proud of it". St. Petersburg Times. http://www.sptimes.com/2003/03/23/Columns/Spartans_are_bruisers.shtml. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
^ Ken Mannie; Mike Vorkapich. "Spartan Basketball - Training With a Football Mentality". Coach and Athletic Director (Scholastic Corporation). Archived from the original on 2006-05-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20060509153932/http://www.scholastic.com/coach/article.asp?ItemID=191. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
^ "USA Basketball: USA Basketball 2001-2004 Quadrennium Committees". 2002-01-18. Archived from the original on 2005-12-29. http://web.archive.org/web/20051229183258/http://www.usabasketball.com/news/usab_committees.html. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
^ McNeill, Kevin (November 19th, 2005). "Maui Invitational: Strength of Schedule". collegehoops.net. http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/columns/kevinmcneill/051119.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
^ Ken Mannie; Mike Vorkapich. "Spartan Basketball - Training With a Football Mentality". Administrator magazine (Scholastic Corporation). http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=7095&FullBreadCrumb=%3Ca+href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.scholastic.com%2Fbrowse%2Fsearch%2F%3FNtt%3Dtom%2Bizzo%26query%3Dtom%2Bizzo%26Ntk%3DSCHL30_SI%26Ntx%3Dmode%2Bmatchallpartial%26N%3D0%22+class%3D%22endecaAll%22%3EAll+Results%3C%2Fa%3E. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
^ [1] Detroit Free Press^{[dead link]}
^ - 0 "Sizing up college basketball season entering the New Year" (Fee). Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service. http://www.libraryo.com/article.aspx?num=68608438 - 0. Retrieved May 10, 2009. "State Coach Tom Izzo and his wife, Lupe, recently adopted a 6-month-old boy and named him Steven Thomas Mateen Izzo: Mateen for former MSU star Mateen Cleaves; Thomas"

NCAA Tournament records CSTV.com, March 14, 2006, retrieved August 7, 2006
Active coaches NCAA Tournament winning percentage, retrieved August 7, 2006
"Spartans are bruisers, and proud of it" by Gary Shelton, St. Petersburg Times, March 23, 2003, retrieved August 7, 2006
"Spartan Basketball: Training With a Football Mentality" by Ken Mannie and Mike Vorkapich, Scholastic.com, retrieved August 7, 2006
"Report: Hawks make offer to Izzo" Associated Press wire story, CNNSI.com, May 12, 2000, retrieved August 7, 2006
"Izzo not interested in Raptors, plans to stay put" by Kelly Theiser, The State News, June 15, 2004, retrieved August 7, 2006
"Maui Invitational: Strength of Schedule" by Kevin McNeill, Collegehoopsnet.com, November 19, 2005, retrieved August 7, 2006
"Coaching Success Brings More Pressure by Andy Katz, ESPN.com, March 7, 2007, retrieved March 19, 2007
"Tom to Tucson: Izzo Top Candidate for Arizona Job" by Chris Domschke "The Beardown" "www.thebeardown.com" November 14, 2008, retrieved November 21, 2008

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tom Izzo

Official site
Brief biography on MSU's web site

Preceded by Jud Heathcote	Michigan State Men's Basketball Head Coach 1995–	Succeeded by Current

[0] Katz, Andy (May 7, 2007). "Spartans' performance stacks up against anyone's". ESPN.com (ESPN). http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2862538. Retrieved 2009-05-10.

[1] McNeill, Kevin (November 19th, 2005). "Maui Invitational: Strength of Schedule". collegehoops.net. http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/columns/kevinmcneill/051119.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-10.

[2] Shelton, Gary. "Spartans are bruisers, and proud of it". St. Petersburg Times. http://www.sptimes.com/2003/03/23/Columns/Spartans_are_bruisers.shtml. Retrieved 2009-05-10.

[3] Ken Mannie; Mike Vorkapich. "Spartan Basketball - Training With a Football Mentality". Coach and Athletic Director (Scholastic Corporation). Archived from the original on 2006-05-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20060509153932/http://www.scholastic.com/coach/article.asp?ItemID=191. Retrieved 2009-05-10.

[4] "USA Basketball: USA Basketball 2001-2004 Quadrennium Committees". 2002-01-18. Archived from the original on 2005-12-29. http://web.archive.org/web/20051229183258/http://www.usabasketball.com/news/usab_committees.html. Retrieved 2009-05-10.

[5] McNeill, Kevin (November 19th, 2005). "Maui Invitational: Strength of Schedule". collegehoops.net. http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/columns/kevinmcneill/051119.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-10.

[6] Ken Mannie; Mike Vorkapich. "Spartan Basketball - Training With a Football Mentality". Administrator magazine (Scholastic Corporation). http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=7095&FullBreadCrumb=%3Ca+href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.scholastic.com%2Fbrowse%2Fsearch%2F%3FNtt%3Dtom%2Bizzo%26query%3Dtom%2Bizzo%26Ntk%3DSCHL30_SI%26Ntx%3Dmode%2Bmatchallpartial%26N%3D0%22+class%3D%22endecaAll%22%3EAll+Results%3C%2Fa%3E. Retrieved 2009-05-10.

[7] [1] Detroit Free Press^{[dead link]}

[8] - 0 "Sizing up college basketball season entering the New Year" (Fee). Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service. http://www.libraryo.com/article.aspx?num=68608438 - 0. Retrieved May 10, 2009. "State Coach Tom Izzo and his wife, Lupe, recently adopted a 6-month-old boy and named him Steven Thomas Mateen Izzo: Mateen for former MSU star Mateen Cleaves; Thomas"

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