Tom Izzo on relationship with former players: ‘Would you rather your coach or your wife yelling at you’

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo had some former Spartan basketball players in the house for their 59-53 victory on Saturday over rival Michigan. One of those players was former Michigan State National Champion Mateen Cleaves, who joked that he enjoys not getting yelled at by Izzo anymore, which the longtime Sparty head coach responded to following the contest.

“Oh sure, Mateen misses me, he really does. I mean would you rather your coach or your wife yelling at you?” Izzo asked. “Who would you rather you know, it’s pretty simple to me.”

Izzo’s would-you-rather scenario may differ between his former players, but Michigan State’s impressive track record and history of meaningful players is hard to deny, as Izzo explained the importance of having alumni returning and being involved with the Spartans’ program.

“But like I said, those guys built it, Gregory Kelser came back, Steve Smith, I mean we got some 90-year-old guy came back, can’t wait to meet them all. It’s been a void, we haven’t been able to do much in the last couple years because of COVID and all the things. So this is important and it’ll be some of the things I talk to those guys about, we just gotta keep building this thing back up now,” Izzo said.

Izzo is in his 28th season as Michigan State’s coach, and may feel the need to build his program back up, but has already set one of the most consistent foundations across all of college basketball during his storied tenure. The Spartans’ most recent win over Michigan extended their win streak to six games, putting them half a game behind Purdue along with four other teams at the top of the Big Ten.

“But I’ll guarantee you Mateen will be getting after a few people too, I mean he threw his hands up a couple of times wondering what the hell is going on too,” Izzo said. “And I said it’s not as good a seat as you thought is it, because now you gotta coach, but I love those guys, I really do.”

Saturday’s victory was an emotional one and a dogfight for the Spartans, defeating the Wolverines despite scoring a season love 59 points in regulation. They hit key baskets and free throws down the stretch to secure the win, and hopefully for the Spartans, they can keep that momentum going heading into their big road test on Wednesday versus No. 18 Wisconsin.