Tom Izzo on Michigan State’s success: ‘Everybody’s playing for each other’

In this era of college basketball, where coaches reshape their teams through the transfer portal each offseason, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo took a different approach. He brought back seven players from last year’s roster, betting on continuity.

Izzo’s move was a risk, as that core only reached the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament and then lost its three leading scorers. Tyson Walker and Malik Hall graduated, while A.J. Hoggard transferred to Vanderbilt. Instead of replacing them with transfers, Izzo believed in his development chops.

Returning guards Jaden Akins, Tre Holloman and Jeremy Fears Jr. stepped up, taking on shot-creating and facilitating responsibilities. Akins is the team’s leading scorer, but his 12.7 points per game show that the Spartans rely on — and trust — everyone who plays to score. They know each other’s strengths, and they don’t need to take turns with the ball in their hands, and therefore, the offense flows.

“Everybody’s playing for each other,” Izzo said on Monday’s edition of “The Herd.” “That doesn’t always happen. We’re playing nine, 10 guys. We do rebound pretty well, we actually score it pretty well, we shoot free throws well.”

Tom Izzo on Michigan State’s path, NIL, Jase Richardson | The Herd

While many transfer-oriented teams struggled to gel at the start of the season, Michigan State jumped out to an 18-2 record and won its first nine games in the Big Ten. Then came a West Coast road trip in which the Spartans dropped consecutive games to USC and UCLA, and a week later, lost their first home game of the season to Indiana.

Michigan State was tested, but it came together, used that rough stretch to improve its chemistry and made necessary adjustments for the final stretch. After that loss to UCLA, Izzo decided to shake up the rotation, inserting freshman guard Jase Richardson into the starting lineup for Holloman. Moving an upperclassman to the bench for a freshman is a move that could have sent the season awry. Not with this Michigan State team.

“We’ve kind of put our egos aside,” Izzo told Colin Cowherd. “Everybody talks about being connected, but this team is really connected.”

Promoting Richardson proved to be the right decision, too, as he scored a season-high 29 points in his first start, and has averaged 17.3 points over 11 games since becoming a starter. The Spartans have gone 11-2 over that stretch.

Holloman’s play hasn’t soured with the move to the bench. In fact, he hit a clutch half-court buzzer-beater — one of the best shots of the season for the Spartans — to push Michigan State past Maryland, 58-55, last month.

Izzo, in his 30th season at the helm at Michigan State, knows what it takes to win during March Madness. “You got to be able to defend and run, and you can’t turn the ball over,” Izzo said when asked about the importance of guard play vs. momentum in the NCAA Tournament.

These Spartans excel in those categories. They have a deadly secondary break and rank fourth in the nation in fast-break points (16.2 per game). Their guards are elite perimeter defenders, and they have the second-best 3-point defense in the nation, holding teams to 27.9% from distance.

Their biggest strength, arguably, is their continuity — an asset that grows from solving problems and playing games together. That continuity helped them win the Big Ten regular-season title and earn a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Spartans’ highest rank since 2019, when they last made the Final Four.

Michigan State opens its NCAA Tournament run against Bryant on Friday at 10 p.m. ET.

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