Hall of Fame Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo made his intentions about the transfer portal opening known during a tournament run. The 70-year-old faced the press ahead of Michigan State’s Sweet 16 class with Ole Miss, and it’s safe to say he wasn’t particularly impressed with the portal opening.
The transfer portal officially opened this week, and more than 600 players have entered it. Izzo thinks it’s a distraction while the tournament is ongoing. He said the timing of the portal opening is unfair to the players as it takes away their focus.
Tom Izzo’s thoughts about the transfer portal
The transfer portal opened a few hours after Michigan State defeated New Mexico 71-63 to secure their place in the Sweet 16. Several players have entered the portal, including Michigan’s Justin Pippen, son of NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen.
Izzo was asked how he intends to navigate the transfer portal in the middle of March Madness, and he went on a long rant about how dysfunctional the NCAA system is. When asked about how Michigan State is handling the portal, Izzo said :
“I’m not dealing with it at all. The only thing that I would deal with is I don’t run players off, So you gotta have spots to pick up transfers. And maybe we’d have one if everybody came back. Maybe we wouldn’t. If you don’t have spots, why are you doing that? So that I can get somebody better? I can get a better girlfriend, because one I got isn’t good enough? I don’t know, get a better wife, because the one I got isn’t good enough?”
He also commented on the ridiculousness of the portal opening while the tournament is ongoing. He said:
“I think it’s ridiculous that the NCAA or any other entity put these two things together, that people like you (media) have to ask these questions. And I value that you have to ask them, And I do get upset when people are talking to our kids about them. I saw what happened at one school, teams get a chance to play in the Sweet 16 and people are entering the transfer portal. Kids gotta do what they got to do, and they’re really not doing what they gotta do. They’re doing what their parents or their agents are telling them to do, because they still gotta go to practice, go in the same locker room unless they leave the team. And I think that’s insane, I think it’s disgusting. But that’s my own personal opinion.”
He wrapped his 45min long press conference by saying:
“The last thing I’m gonna say about the portal, it started when the season started. We got schools recruiting kids right up, we got agents talking to kids on teams every day of the year. So that’s what the average person doesn’t realize. This transfer portal opened yesterday? It didn’t even make it legal because nobody cared. There are no rules. It just meant that you guys think it’s opened. The transfer portal opened in September, as far as I’m concerned. And my job… is keep the distractions and the dirtbags away from my guys the best I can. And I’ll try to do that by talking to them. But I can’t deal with their phones, I can’t deal with their phone calls, I can’t deal with all the things. So all I can tell them is you got a chance to do something that few people are going to get a chance to do in their lifetime.”
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Michigan State will face No. 6 seed Ole Miss on Friday in a rematch between Tom Izzo and Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard. The pair faced off in 2019 when Chris Beard was at Texas Tech.
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