Not that any confirmation was needed, but anyone still wondering if Michigan State head coach wants to scratch his NBA itch can relax for at least the next year or so.
Tom Izzo said he will return to coach Michigan State despite reportedly being a candidate for the coach openings in Minnesota and Detroit.
“First of all, I’m going to be at Michigan State,” Izzo said Wednesday. “I still listen to things every day in our town about Nick Saban saying I’m not going to be the Alabama coach [when Saban was coach of the Miami Dolphins].
“Nobody knows where any of us are going to be. You have to look at your track record and, over all these years, is this what he’s done?”
Izzo reiterated that just because a certain NBA job opens up, doesn’t mean he’ll choose to accept it.
“If somebody made me an offer to be the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers that was so good that it would impress everybody, does that mean I would never say never?” Izzo said. “I’m not doing that anymore. I’ve seen too many people get stung that way.
“Put it this way: I’ve got a big-time recruit coming in an hour and if I was leaving I wouldn’t be recruiting.”