Tom Izzo provides thoughts on the current state of college basketball

With the introduction of NIL without nationally enforced legislation, along with the growing popularity of the transfer portal, veteran head coaches like Michigan State’s Tom Izzo have faced questions about the future of college basketball. As his colleagues retire each year, his outlook on the future is part of what drives him to continue coaching.

During an appearance on The Herd, Tom Izzo discussed the current state of college basketball with Colin Cowherd and Joy Taylor. He provided his biggest concern, which revolves around the kids and not the programs, also questioning the mentality the new way creates in athletes.

“It scares me a little bit if I’m being honest with you,” said Izzo. “And yet, somehow it seems to work. The transfer portal is – I worry about the kids that don’t get out of the portal, there’s 200-250 kids last year that never had a place to go. I worry about where these kids are going to go after they’ve transferred four times. What’s the school they go back to for help? There’s a lot of unintended consequences with it. But I’ve kind of given up on that.

“I love (Mike) Krzyzewski too, I think he did a great job. I think your part about falling down is such a great statement because I think we want to create people that never fall down now. There’s never a mistake, like you’re supposed to fail, that’s part of success. And I worry a little bit, the minute things get tough we’ll transfer, the minute we start to fall down we’ll leave.”

Tom Izzo on college basketball

After turning the question on Colin Cowherd, getting his take on the state of college basketball, Tom Izzo responded to the notion that this is a new rough period but things will bounce back and settle down.

“I think it’ll bounce back, but I don’t think it’s going to be sustainable the way it is,” said Izzo. “But we’ll see what happens there. The biggest thing that I’ve said about it is, I just don’t know if 17, 18, 19-year olds are any different than the three of us were. And are we going to make good decisions? We’re going to make decisions because people are influencing us.

“Jud Heathcote, my old boss here and coach Magic used to say every freshman’s unhappy. You average 30 per game in high school, there’s no way in college basketball to average 30 per game. So every freshman’s unhappy, the difference is nowadays, I’m not sure Draymond (Green) would’ve stayed here playing 7-8 minutes as a freshman or Xavier Tillman, Denzel Valentine. Pros that I had, they probably all would’ve left by now. So I’m a little worried about that aspect of it, and like you said, it’ll work its way out I guess. But in the middle of it, I don’t worry about the programs, I worry more about the kids and the decisions they’re making that could affect the rest of their lives.”