Tom Izzo goes on fiery rant on transfer portal opening in middle of NCAA Tournament

On Monday, the NCAA Transfer Portal officially opened for men’s college basketball. It’s unfortunate timing for the teams still playing in the NCAA Tournament since they are pre-occupied with preparing for their respective Sweet Sixteen matchups.

While some programs are trying to multitask, Michigan State isn’t one of them. On Tuesday, Spartans head coach Tom Izzo railed against the idea of worrying about the transfer portal while his team is still dancing in March Madness.

“What my team’s done has been incredible, and I’m not ready to move on,” Izzo said. “I’m going to worry today about the guys I got in this program that have done an incredible job this year, and that’s it. And if that cost me later, so be it. But Tom Izzo isn’t cheating the people that he has that have been loyal to him for this chaos that is going on out there.

“When I came back Sunday night, that was it. There was nothing on my mind but giving these guys a chance to win one more game, get to the Elite Eight. Win one more game and have a memory that will last their entire life, their kid’s life, and their grandkid’s life because that’s what it is.

“So excuse me for being passionate about it, or pissed off about it, whichever words you want to use, but I’m not going to talk about [the transfer portal] because it’s not fair. It’s not fair to the people. You could say it’s fair to your program. I’ll run my program like I want to run my program. And if people have a disagreement with that, God bless them.”

Izzo hasn’t embraced the transfer portal era. Last offseason, he only brought in two players via the portal. Instead, Izzo focuses on culture, which, of course, has its own advantages.

Izzo tends to lose fewer players to portal than other programs. Since 2020, Michigan State has only lost seven players to the transfer portal. In the modern collegiate landscape, it’s not uncommon for seven players to enter the transfer portal from the same team.

Now, Tom Izzo has a chance to give back to the guys who committed to him. On Friday, Michigan State will square off against Ole Miss in the Sweet Sixteen. Izzo isn’t allowing anything to distract him from the monumental matchup.

“But these guys that gave me everything they could give me are gonna have a chance, and I’m not gonna screw it up by spending any time on other stuff,” Izzo said. “I don’t eat, I don’t sleep right now. So why would I do something else that might benefit me a year from now.

“And really it’s not gonna benefit me because I don’t know what I have. I don’t know much money I have, I don’t know which players are leaving, or staying. I don’t have any idea. So, why would I do that? Waste of time.”