Michigan State coach Tom Izzo: 'I don't plan on going anywhere'

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo isn’t calling it quits.

The Spartans, who many saw as a Final Four-caliber team, were knocked out of the NCAA tournament on Sunday, falling to Syracuse 55-53.

Izzo, who has been under fire following an ESPN “Outside the Lines” report detailing a previously unreported sexual assault allegation from 2010 against Michigan State basketball players. The coach remained fairly quiet on the issue throughout most of the season, too, only really saying that it’s been a challenge for both him and his players.

When asked Sunday about his future — which some questioned the status of in the wake of the ESPN report — Izzo’s stance remained the same. He isn’t done yet.

“I don’t plan on going anywhere,” Izzo said. “I got a job to do. I’ve never run from anything in my life. Nothing. I don’t plan on starting now. So I’ll be here. I took too many bullets this year not to be here. So I’ll be here.

“We’ll be back knocking on a door to win a championship. I’m going to make damn sure of that.”

This past season marked one of, if not the most controversial for Izzo at Michigan State. After the ESPN report came out, a Yahoo Sports report showed ASM Sports documents that alleged that Spartan star Miles Bridges’ family received money as one of the athletes involved in the FBI’s investigation on corruption in college basketball.

Shortly thereafter, Izzo announced that he would no longer field questions relating to anything other than basketball and their current season.

“We’re going to focus in because it’s been a lot of distractions,” Izzo said on Feb. 28. “I tried to do it as best I could for all of you [reporters]. Never cut off our locker room or anything else. But now, it’s going to be basketball time. These players, this staff, deserve to focus in on basketball.”

While he didn’t get the big finish he had hoped for, Izzo did credit his team as the main reason he was able to get through all of the controversy surrounding Michigan State this year.

“As everybody knows, it’s been a different year,” Izzo said on Sunday. “I don’t think me, personally, I could have gone through the year without a group like I had. In fact, I know there would be no way.”

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