Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo was not happy when he was asked to address the NCAA transfer portal. This question was asked two days before arguably his biggest game of the tournament yet, a Sweet 16 matchup with Ole Miss.
Interestingly, only two teams left in the March Madness tournament have four starters who began their college careers at the school they currently play for. Those two teams are Izzo’s Michigan State team and the Duke Blue Devils. Meanwhile, other teams have multiple starters from different programs, including Michigan, which has five different starters from five different programs.
Tom Izzo Shuts Down NIL and Transfer Portal Talk Ahead of Sweet 16 Matchup
Izzo took over as head coach for Michigan State in 1995. Entering his 30th year of coaching, Izzo has obtained the right to call himself one of the most legendary coaches in college basketball history. Izzo won one NCAA March Madness tournament but made eight Final Four appearances, won six Big Ten tournaments, and won 11 Big Ten regular-season conference titles.
EPIC IZZO RANT: Tom Izzo was asked today about how he is approaching the fact that the transfer portal is open in the middle of the NCAA Tournament. His answer – as you might imagine – was very Izzo-like: pic.twitter.com/8MhvJNZsFT
— Spartans Illustrated (@SpartansRivals) March 25, 2025
Izzo’s resume speaks for itself, and he certainly has quite the resume. Ahead of Michigan State’s upcoming matchup with Ole Miss in the Sweet 16, Izzo was asked about the NIL and transfer portal, which he promptly shut down.
“I think it’s ridiculous that the NCAA or any other entity put these two things together (the portal opening with the tournament ongoing), that people like you have to ask these questions,” Izzo said. “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 and 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.”
“.. If I keep talking, I cheat my players. And I’ll cheat myself before I’ll cheat my players. So, do you have another question about the transfer portal? I can list a lot of schools you can call and ask them; they might have a better opinion than me. But me? I’m homed (sic) in on Ole Miss,” Izzo ranted. “…I’ve followed what you said. I’m going to worry today about the guys I got in this program that have done an incredible job this year, and that’s it. And if that cost me later? So be it. But Tom Izzo isn’t cheating the people that he has, that have been loyal to him, for this chaos that is going on out there.”
KEEP READING: Tom Izzo on His Tough-Love Coaching Philosophy at Michigan State
This was the perfect response that Izzo could have given to the question presented, and it’d be hard not to see his point of view. Izzo is gearing up his team for a potential legendary run, and they have no room for distraction.
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