Michigan State has employed one coach for 30 years. Dusty May, meanwhile, is Michigan’s sixth in the past three decades.
As Tom Izzo continues to thrive in the winter of his Hall of Fame career, his younger counterpart in Ann Arbor is at the beginning of what could be a fruitful long-term tenure. The juxtaposition between two coaches separated by 22 years and more than 580 wins creates a compelling new narrative in an under-appreciated basketball rivalry. The two will meet Sunday at noon ET on CBS.
Matt Norlander spent time with Izzo and May in late February to get a sense of how two very different men are running programs at drastically different points in their careers.
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Hunched over, head bobbing at a quarter-note rhythm, jaw slightly dropped, eyes in constant scan. His hands clenched, tugging on the knees of his polyester pants. A whistle dangles around his neck.
Tom Izzo is exactly where he wants to be at 70 years old: overseeing yet another Michigan State practice.
Eventually, there’s an inevitable mistake from one of his players. Izzo doesn’t even think to use his whistle; he reflexively barks, and in a beat, the Hall-of-Famer is hoofing downcourt. It’s two days before MSU’s big road game against first-place Michigan and Izzo isn’t satisfied by the lack of physicality in the painted area.
One of his guys backed off under the boards during a drill. I’m sitting too far away to hear Izzo’s initial verbiage as he approaches the perpetrator, but after some quick one-sided discourse Izzo’s final six words are enunciated loud and clear and they reverberate across the practice gym.
“KNOCK SOMEBODY ON THEIR F—ING ASS!!!”
If the point wasn’t direct enough, about 25 minutes later Izzo scolds the same six words again to another player, only more drawn out and a little louder this time, to make sure the message is…
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