Sports: Another Year, Another Final Four/For the Record
SPARTAN LIFER IZZO SEEKS MORE BANNERS
After turning down another NBA offer, Izzo went back to work to elevate MSU’s basketball program to unprecedented heights.
Tom Izzo has done it again. One year after a storybook run to the 2009 Final Four in Ford Field, he led MSU to the Final Four in Indianapolis—his sixth “big dance” appearance in the last 12 seasons. Shortly thereafter, he turned down an offer to coach the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and declared himself “a Spartan for life.”
Meanwhile, Suzy Merchant led the women cagers to a third straight postseason tournament appearance in her three years as MSU head coach. The women’s team beat Bowling Green in this year’s NCAA tournament before bowing out to Kentucky in the second round.
Izzo’s sixth Final Four trek was especially impressive given all the adversity he had to surmount—such as injuries, suspensions and assorted snags. Among them:
? Junior Point Guard Kalin Lucas, last season’s Big Ten Player of the Year, suffered a season-ending freak injury.
? Sophomore Forward Delvon Roe, a key inside player, postponed surgery to repair a torn meniscus and played in pain.
? Junior Guard Chris Allen sprained the arch of his right foot, a painful injury.
? Several snags surfaced where Izzo had to find new and creative ways to foster team unity and leadership.
And yet, through all the travails, MSU hung a second straight Final Four banner alongside its 2010 Big Ten Championship banner. “(This) may be his most impressive coaching job yet,” writes Gerry Ahern of Yahoo! Sports. ESPN analyst Digger Phelps invoked “the Izzo factor” to explain why the Spartans kept winning games he had predicted them to lose.
Izzo’s all-time performance in the NCAA tournament—35-11, for .761—ranks second among all active coaches. Izzo takes particular pride in his 16-3 record on the second day of an NCAA tournament weekend, which speaks volumes about his ability to prepare the team in less than two days. As Magic Johnson notes, “He’s the best (coach) in the nation when it comes to the NCAA tournament.”
Andy Glockner, writer with SI.com, goes one step farther. He calls Izzo “the best basketball coach in America, bar none.”
MSU began its NCAA run in Spokane, WA, home of former MSU Coach Jud Heathcote, Izzo’s mentor. MSU won a close game against New Mexico State 70-67 behind Lucas’ 25 points. Against Maryland in the next game, MSU rode Durrell Summers’ hot shooting to lead by 16 points. But the Terrapins took advantage of a season-ending injury to Lucas and chipped away at the lead, eventually leading by one point with six seconds left. This is when one of the most memorable plays in MSU history unfolded. Sophomore Forward Draymond Green dribbled up the court and fired a pass to Korie Lucious, the backup point guard, just as Roe ducked to avoid being hit. Lucious’s trey hit nothing but net at the buzzer. He was instantly mobbed by delirious teammates (even Sparty jumped into the pile).
At the regionals in St. Louis, MSU dispatched Northern Iowa 59-52 in the Sweet Sixteen. The Panthers had knocked out No. 1-seed Kansas and made the cover of Sports Illustrated. In the Elite Eight, MSU faced a rugged Tennessee team that had beaten Ohio State, Big Ten co-champions along with MSU and Purdue. In a close, exciting game, Tennessee tied the game 69-69 as the clock wound down with a free throw but missed a second free throw. Lucious grabbed the rebound, then Green passed to Raymar Morgan under the basket. Morgan was hacked with less than two seconds left. Morgan, only the tenth MSU player in history to amass 1,500 points and 700 rebounds, was not about to falter. He made the first free throw, putting MSU ahead 70-69, then intentionally missed the second. The Volunteer’s desperation, half-court shot at the buzzer fell short.
“There is nothing greater than going to a Final Four that I know of,” says Izzo, dubbed “Mr. March” by some sportswriters. “Except winning it.”
The Spartan run ended in Indianapolis when MSU was edged by Butler 52-50, a Cinderella team from Indianapolis. At game’s end, the referees did not call either of two apparent fouls—one a near wrestling hold—by the Bulldogs on Green and Roe.
Despite the loss, one is hard put to find any Spartan fans unimpressed with the achievement by MSU and by Izzo, who is ably assisted by assistant coaches Mark Montgomery, Dwayne Stephens and Mike Garland. After a brief look into an offer by Cleveland, during which an outpouring of “We Love Izzo” signs spread out across lawns, Izzo made a decision to reject future NBA offers and to stay the course at MSU.
“I owed it to myself and my family to do my due diligence,” says Izzo. “I'm pleased to say I am here for life at Michigan State.” He wants to focus on “becoming one of just seven schools with three or more NCAA Championships. I'm also driven to continue to raise the perception of our program to an elite level.”
See you in Houston?
FOR THE RECORD
BIG TEN STANDOUTS—Two Spartan seniors won Big Ten honors. Golfer Laura Kueny, a three-time All-Big Ten selection, was named this year’s Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Year. She is the second player in program history to win the honor (Emily Bastel won in 2002). Rower Emily Regan was named the Conference’s Athlete of the Year, the third consecutive Spartan to win this honor. A three-year member of MSU’s varsity eight, Regan rowed for MSU’s Big Ten Champion V8 in all nine races.
IN MEMORIAM—Former Pitcher Robin Roberts, ’47, the only Spartan in baseball’s Hall of Fame, died May 6 in his home in Temple Terrace, FL. A basketball and baseball star at MSU, Roberts became a standout major league pitcher and was named an All-Star seven times. In 1950 he led the Philadelphia Phillies to the pennant. He led the National League in wins from 1952-56. In his career, he had 286 wins, 45 shutouts, and 2,357 strikeouts. A statue of him sits outside the first base gate at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. He was 83.