Tom Izzo reacts to Michigan moving on from Juwan Howard

The Michigan State Spartans secured a spot in the field of 68. However, head coach Tom Izzo found himself answering questions about the Spartans’ biggest in-state rivals ahead of their first-round matchup against Mississippi State.

Shortly after the Michigan Wolverines were knocked out of the Big Ten tournament, the university decided to part ways with men’s head basketball coach Juwan Howard. And with Izzo’s familiarity with Howard, both as a contemporary and a recruit many years ago, he was asked to share his thoughts on the Wolverines letting go of their coach.

“I wish I knew a little bit more about it… I don’t know if anybody knows all the reasons. Having gone through what I went through 6-7 years ago, I don’t wish anything on anybody,” said Izzo.

“I’m disappointed in how many coaches are going down. In Juwan’s case, I recruited Juwan. There’s no question that the Fab-Five took basketball to a different level in what they accomplished. He had done a good job at Michigan. There’s distractions; we got them here too. I mean their distractions early in the year, the situation with their point guard. You can’t do that. I’m saying, unfortunately, he can’t do that, meaning that wasn’t all in his hands. But that put him behind the eight ball. And all the other things that happened, I mean… what you hear outside and what really is the case.”

Many individuals around the sport consider Howard’s five-year tenure with Michigan a success. The former Wolverine star, in its own right, took over the program in place of John Beilein in the 2019 off-season. Howard had a strong year one, finishing the 2019-20 season with a 19-12 mark despite the year concluding early because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In years two and three, Howard would lead Michigan all back-to-back deep trips into the men’s NCAA championship tournament. Unfortunately, since then, the Wolverines have been on a bit of a slide, finishing last season 18-16 and this year with an abysmal last-place finish in the Big Ten with an 8-24 overall record and 3-17 in conference play.

While Michigan may be a rival, Howard is not viewed as such by Izzo. In fact, the Michigan State head coach is all for the college basketball head coaching fraternity and is not a fan of seeing his fellow head coaches receive the axe. Izzo lamented that fact while sharing his disappointment with Howard’s firing because he understands all too well what it feels like to be in the Michigan head coach’s shoes.

“But I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed that anybody in our profession goes through anything like we’re going through. And probably a lot of people wouldn’t believe that I really feel that way, but I really do. Because, no only could it happen to me it did happen to me.”

Things are looking down from Michigan; Michigan State has a much more optimistic view ahead of them. The Spartans are preparing to take on the Bulldogs in a No. 8-Seed vs. No. 9-Seed showdown. That game is scheduled to take place Thursday morning at 11:15 AM CT. CBS will cover Izzo and Michigan State’s first-round matchup as he and the Spartans attempt to go on a deep run in this year’s tournament and potentially end the year as kings of the men’s college basketball world.