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Dr. Lorenzo Guess moves from football to become Michigan State basketball's strength coach

On3 imageby:Jim Comparoni•07/13/23•

JimComparoni

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Dr. Lorenzo Guess, a former two-sport athlete for the Spartans, has been part of the Michigan State strength and conditioning staff for 12 years. (Photo by Dane Robison for SpartanMag).

East Lansing, Mich. – It’s only fitting that former Michigan State two-sport athlete Lorenzo Guess is making the jump from the Spartans’ football strength and conditioning team to become the Director of Strength & Conditioning for the Michigan State basketball program. The university announced Guess’s move on Thursday.

Dr. Lorenzo Guess, who played safety for the Spartan football team under Nick Saban and Bobby Williams from 1998 to 2001 and moonlighted as a back-up guard for Tom Izzo, is in his 12th year on staff at Michigan State in the strength and conditioning department.

He previously served as the associate head strength and conditioning coach for the Spartan football program. He had worked as a member of the football team’s strength staff since returning to Michigan State in 2012 to assist former longtime Michigan State head strength coach Ken Mannie.

Last year, he was promoted to Director of Athletic Performance at Michigan State, while working with Spartan football head strength and conditioning coach Jason Novak.

Now, Guess is sliding over to the Breslin Center to take over as strength coach for the Spartan basketball program, a role previously held by Marshall Repp for four years. 

“I’m really excited to have Lorenzo working with our program,” Izzo said in a statement released by the university on Thursday. “He is a Spartan through and through. Lorenzo was a two-sport athlete here, played safety on football teams that won a pair of bowl games and then was part of two Big Ten Championships and a Final Four team playing for me early in my career.

“More than anything, I have great respect for him and what he has done with his career. His work with our football program has been outstanding, but he’s also one of the most well-respected strength coaches in the country. The guys in our basketball program are going to benefit from his work ethic and his knowledge. Lorenzo is an ideal role model for our players because he has already walked in those footsteps.”

Guess has 19 years of experience as a strength and conditioning coach at the collegiate level, including stops at Notre Dame, Cincinnati and South Florida.

Guess was named a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach (MSCC) by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches association (CSCCa) in May 2020, the highest honor given in the strength and conditioning coaching profession.

“I am excited to be joining the men’s basketball team as the director of strength and conditioning,” Guess said. “Michigan State has always felt like home to me and this opportunity is truly a dream come true. I have a special relationship with Coach Izzo and the staff, having met him when I was just 14 years old. It’s amazing to see how things have come full circle. It’s a great opportunity to work with this team and help them achieve their goals.”

A native of Wayne, Michigan, Guess earned a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State in 2002 and graduated from Tiffin University in 2007 with a master’s degree in business administration. He completed his doctoral program with the United States Sports Academy in the summer of 2021.

While at Michigan State, Guess was a four-year letterwinner in football (1998-2001) and earned two letters with the basketball team (1997-99). As a safety, he helped Michigan State beat Florida in the 2000 Citrus Bowl and Fresno State in the 2001 Silicon Valley Bowl. He was part of two Big Ten titles and an NCAA Final Four appearance (1999) with the basketball team.

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