Michigan State coach Tom Izzo led his No. 12 Spartans to a routine 76-66 win over the Northwestern Wildcats on Thursday evening. The win marked the Spartans’ second consecutive win after dropping an intense road game to the No. 10 Nebraska Cornhuskers last weekend.
Izzo has stolen the headlines in the past week for sanctioning the removal of former Michigan State star Paul Davis from the game against the USC Trojans on Monday, and on Thursday, senior center Carson Cooper revealed that the eccentric coach had a strange request for him before the game against the Northwestern Wildcats.
Carson Cooper Reveals Tom Izzo’s Strange Request
While speaking to reporters after the game against Northwestern, Michigan State center Cooper revealed Izzo’s strange request to him during the Spartans’ game.
“The trust that coach has in me,” Cooper said. “Coach comes at me and he says, ‘Coop, I want you to get mad at me. I want you to come at me and say you need more shots.’ He wants me to be more assertive for getting the ball. He wants me to get more involved in the offense. It’s refreshing to hear when your head coach wants you to do that.
“He gets mad at me sometimes because I’m too much of a nice guy and I don’t wanna get under anybody’s skin. I don’t wanna intrude or say something too crazy.”
After only managing 20.0 combined points in his past three games, Cooper managed 18.0 points, 9 rebounds, and a block in the win against the Wildcats on Thursday.
Izzo Addresses Courtside Argument With MSU Stars
During Michigan State’s blowout win over the USC Trojans on Monday, Izzo was shown having a heated courtside argument with Spartans stars Jeremy Fears Jr. and Jaxon Kohler.
During his postgame news conference after the game, Izzo addressed the argument with his star players and further revealed
“I’ll be very honest with you. Some things happened at Nebraska, as you all know and I want a player celebrating with his teammates,” Izzo said. “I don’t want him celebrating to somebody else. A couple of times, that seemed to happen tonight with a couple of different players. So, I was just trying to nip that in the bud.
“Because I don’t want that. The greatest captains, the greatest leaders and the greatest quarterbacks rally everybody on his team, okay? And then they rally the fans, I’m cool with that. I don’t need anybody coaching the other team. There’s nothing more fun than when a player comes at me. I right away say, ‘That S.O.B really cares.’ No big deal.”
Izzo has made a name for himself with his unique approach to coaching over his 30 years at Michigan State, and the anecdotes about his approach with players have become the stuff of legend in college basketball.