Michigan State’s disappointing season came to an end Saturday with Tom Izzo’s fifth loss in five tries against North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament, despite racing out to an 11-point lead midway through the first half.
When things came crashing down as the Tar Heels overpowered the 9th-seeded Spartans in the second half, it was a microcosm of the season.
MSU began the season ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25 and the veteran-laden team had its eyes on making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. But right off the bat, a loss to James Madison in which the Spartans shot 1-for-20 from 3-point range was a warning flag, even if the Dukes would go on to win more than 30 games and advance past the first round.
Izzo wonders if that game had gone differently whether the rest of the season may have as well. But the fact is, MSU ended the year 20-15, a stark underachievement for a Hall-of-Fame coach with a talented, veteran roster.
Speaking to the media after Saturday’s loss in Charlotte, Izzo vowed to learn from the bumpy road that was the 2023-24 season.
“I’m getting back to a deeper run in this tournament. Or I’m gonna die trying,” he said.
Izzo, 69, admitted he knows it’s time to take a look at his ways and try to adapt to the changing college basketball landscape.
“It’s not as easy as you think right now. It’s not as easy as you think. And yet we have to figure out — I have to figure out — how I do a better job. And I really mean that,” Izzo said, noting he should have done a better job of getting through to his team earlier in the season.
“When you’re ranked high, the abuse that you take on social media is real. And some kids are more ready to handle that than others. You’re used to pros — these aren’t pros. No matter if we pay ‘em, no matter if they get older, they’re not,” he told reporters. “I’m really disappointed with me, that I didn’t do a better job. And I’m not trying to take any heat off them, I just gotta do a better job of that and I’m gonna do a better job.”
Izzo said he’ll talk with respected names in the profession this offseason to learn how he can do a better job.
“Because everybody’s having the same problems. I’ll do that, that’ll be good. It’s not gonna be a complete overhaul, it’ll just be tweaking some things. Maybe as I told AJ, if he led like he did the last couple weeks throughout his career — and that’s not putting it all on him — but a team needs a leader. And it’s the coach’s job to help develop that, so I gotta do a better job of that,” Izzo said.
“So it sounds to me like, before I worry about recruiting… or before I worry about all these other things, I gotta figure out what I gotta do a better job of. There’ll be nobody — you don’t have a candle to hold to how hard I’ll be on myself compared to the other people. And it won’t be close,” he said.