Tom Izzo stepped to the free throw line, measured up the 8-foot rim from approximately 10 feet away, and shot it. Nothing but net. Izzo and his partner were competing in a charity free throw competition with seven other kids and seven other head coaches participating in the Maui Invitational: Penny Hardaway, Dan Hurley, Tad Boyle, Hubert Davis, Anthony Grant, T.J. Otzelberger, and Bruce Pearl.
These eight men were about to embark on a three-day tournament where, at the end, one would be 3-0 (Auburn), one would 0-3 (UConn), three would be 2-1, and three would be 1-2. The results of the tournament would be an early indicator as to which coach had used their resources to build their team the best for the 2024-2025 season. In this day and age of big time college basketball, the rosters of these eight teams were all built using the different strategies and the different ideals employed by the head coaches.
Spartan fans know that Tom Izzo has been dragged into the new era of college basketball, metaphorically kicking and screaming along the way, wanting to maintain some semblance of what college basketball has meant to him. Yet he had pledged at the end of last season, after a quick postseason exit, that he was going to get "back to a deeper run in (the NCAA) tournament" or he was "going to die trying.”
“I haven’t finished what I want to accomplish," he said in Charlotte, NC in late March after being eliminated by North Carolina in the round of 32. "So, I’m going to try doing that. Are things more frustrating (in college basketball these days)? 100%. But I think they helped energize me the last couple of weeks.”
Prior to the Maui Invitational, Izzo's 2024-2025 team hadn't really shown the college basketball world too much yet.
Sure, the Spartans had a decent showing in an 8-point loss to Kansas in the Champions Classic, which was the only blemish on their record so far. But the four Spartan wins had been expected, un-noteworthy, and all at home, over the likes of Monmouth, Niagara, Bowling Green, and Samford.
That was all about to change, though, as Michigan State prepared to take on Colorado in the first round of the 2024 Maui Invitational.
Before the games, though, came the opportunity to answer questions at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa, on a Sunday morning, baking in the sun, overlooking the blue waters of the 'Au'au Channel with the greens and browns of the island of Lanai in the background.
That's where Spartans Illustrated was able to catch up with Izzo and dig a little bit into his recruiting approach, roster building, and what it all means moving forward for a Michigan State basketball program desperate to get back to the top of the college basketball world once again.
“We’ve been a relationship-based program since I’ve been here," Izzo said about how he's built the MSU basketball program over the last 30 years. "It’s turning into a transaction (based approach) but I’m trying to keep it relationship based. Culture is important.”
It's somewhat of a unique approach to roster building these days - a call back to the 'good ol' days.'
You know, the days when fans could watch their favorite players learn and grow over the four years they spent at their school. The days when fans watched young freshmen turn into resolute seniors, having trusted the process along the way.
For the last several years at Michigan State, the results simply haven't been up to the expectations that Izzo has set for his program -- and by which he measures himself and his team.
When Izzo said that he was going to get back to deeper runs in the postseason, many people thought that meant that he was going to shell out the big bucks from the big donors, bring in some hired guns from the transfer portal, and revolutionize his team.
Nope.
Not even close.
Enter stage right: Frankie Fidler and Szymon Zapala from the transfer portal to go along with freshmen Jase Richardson, Kur Teng, and Jesse McCullough.
Exit stage left: Tyson Walker, AJ Hoggard, Mady Sissoko, Malik Hall.
Does Izzo think that this year's team chemistry will add a layer of success that has been missing over the last few years?
“I think it will," he said. "I never like where we are, but I like where we are headed.”
Is his approach to building this team working? Because, really, in the end, the answer to that question matters most.
“Some people will think not, some people will think so," said Izzo, eyes hidden behind his sunglasses, deep lines around his mouth, testaments to countless expressions over the decades. "I like what I’ve done. I really do. The problem is we still have some young guys. Jeremy Fears is really a freshman still and, coming off that horrific injury, he is finding his way."
Izzo knows he's been able to fix up a few things with his newcomers.
"We’ve shored up a few things we needed to – one of them was getting to the free throw line more, Frankie Fidler does a great job of that, that’s helped," Izzo continued. "We’ve added something with Szymon Zapala and he’s helped us inside, we’ve been better there. Now we need for our veteran guys to step up."
Izzo knows that a freshman on his team is doing an unusual thing in the Izzo era -- making a large contribution -- and that this team's success is going to ride on the backs of his veterans.
"We’ve had a great start for Jase Richardson who is really playing beyond his years," Izzo said, a glimpse of a smile forming on his lips. "And now if we get Tre Holloman and Jaden Akins shooting the ball like they have in the past – I’m not looking for something new – but their roles have changed, and that’s going to take a little while to adjust to that."
The Maui Invitational was a success, taking two wins in three games (Colorado, North Carolina) and the Spartans followed it up with a 2-0 start in Big Ten play (road win over Minnesota, blowout home win over Nebraska). His team really seems to have hit its stride, as he predicted in Hawaii, and has been rewarded by its first visit to the AP Top 25 in awhile.
Back on the island, the conversation turned to recruiting.
What's his approach these days? What does it look like to follow the Tom Izzo Way? How has the Tom Izzo Way changed recently?
“We vet it the best we can," Izzo said on that Sunday morning in Maui. "We all understand (NIL) money is going to play a factor in it now, but (we're) looking for people who want to be here and who want to put a stake down where they’re at – whether it be 1, 2, 3 years, hopefully going pro, not leaving the program. And then when you get (those players) – people talk about re-recruiting, I don’t think it’s re-recruiting, I think it’s treating them in a way that they appreciate you and you appreciate them. It’s the day-to-day stuff that’s really important. You don’t fool guys. They’re smarter than we give them credit for sometimes.”
Izzo is holding onto the hope that he is going to be able to marry the two things he cares about most: a culture worth fighting for and winning as many games as he can.
“Caring about somebody is still the greatest thing that there is," Izzo said. "Some of these kids have come from broken homes and not as many males caring for them. And that is where we step in – and if we can do that, and get lucky, we keep a lot of guys."
Izzo knows that the kids he recruits today will some day join the ranks of those he calls on in the future.
"(MSU's former players) come back so much, they help perpetuate the culture," Izzo said. "And when I have a problem with a kid, I have Steve Smith I can call, I have Magic Johnson, I have Mateen Cleaves I can call. I guess everybody’s got them but at my place they come back yearly, sometimes monthly.”
And Izzo is betting that his way is going to pay off on the court, as it definitely seems to be doing as of late.
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