Tom Izzo, Fran McCaffery Support Each Other Off Court

Michigan St., Iowa Coaches Meet Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo talks to his team during a timeout in the Spartans' game against Iowa on Feb. 22, 2022 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)

IOWA CITY, Iowa - When Fran McCaffery and Tom Izzo's teams meet Saturday morning at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, they'll be looking to win an important, late-season Big Ten basketball game. After it, the long-time head coaches will support each other until they meet again. 

That's how it's been for years with Iowa's McCaffery and Michigan State's Izzo. It started when McCaffery's son Patrick, now a junior forward for the Hawkeyes, was diagnosed with cancer in junior high. It may have began before that. 

McCaffery says Izzo has been lifting up Big Ten peers and beyond whenever they most need it for a long time. That's part of why McCaffery quickly contacted Izzo after the recent tragedy at Michigan State, where a gunman killed three university students. 

"I reached out to him immediately," McCaffery said. "If you look at all the coaches in our profession, he might be the very best at reaching out to people at various times for various reasons. He's very connected that way to our profession and to relationships. 

"I reached out to him immediately and told him I was thinking about him."

Izzo has helped the Spartans recover with words and actions that mean something to them. He's been coaching at the school non-stop since 1983. He grew up in the state and never left. 

"I thought his response and his speech was spectacular in helping to bring that community together," McCaffery said. "He's a guy that can do it. He's done a fabulous job."

Fran McCaffery talking today about his relationship with Tom Izzo

McCaffery reached out right away after MSU tragedy to a person who's supported him in the past pic.twitter.com/aSUy7joRxE

— Rob Howe (@RobHoweHN) February 24, 2023

Michigan State has played two games since the horror on campus. The first came at arch rival Michigan, where the two teams competed hard on the court while also honoring the victims. Next came a home contest with Indiana, the Hoosiers donning shirts that read "#SpartanStrong." 

There will be a moment of silence before MSU (17-10 overall, 9-6 Big Ten) tips off at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (11 a.m. CT, ESPN) Saturday while continuing to push forward through grief. It does so crammed in a mass of teams residing in the middle of the standings. Iowa (17-11, 9-8) is another of those outfits. 

Michigan State topped the Hawkeyes, 63-61, on Jan. 26 in East Lansing. That added importance for Iowa Saturday when it comes to end-of-season tiebreakers for the conference tournament. 

Seven league teams are within a game of each other in the loss column with likely only two of them securing a double bye in the Big Ten Tourney. Iowa travels to Indiana and plays host to Nebraska next week to wrap up the regular season.  

Northeastern transfer Tyson Walker leads the Spartans is scoring at 14 points per game. A.J. Hoggard ranks third in the conference with 5.8 assists per outing for MSU, while teammate Joey Hauser's 7.1 rebounds are 11th.