Long-time Michigan State assistant to fill head coaching vacancy at Western Michigan
On Monday, reports began surfacing that long-time Michigan State men's basketball assistant Dwayne Stephens will be hired at the next head coach at Western Michigan.
Stephens just concluded his 19th season on Tom Izzo's staff, and his 10th as associated head coach for the Spartans.
A Michigan State alum who played for the Spartans from 1989-93, Stephens joined Izzo's staff in 2003. He was primarily responsible for coaching the Spartans big men, and helped develop talents such as Draymond Green and Xavier Tillman, among others. Stephens also coached future first round draft picks Adreian Payne, Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr.
Known as a strong recruiter, Stephens will be a tough guy to replace for Michigan State, though the move is not an unexpected one for Izzo. Michigan State's head coach advocated for Stephens to get the head coaching job at Western Michigan when the job came open back in 2020.
The Broncos ultimately decided to hire within the program, promoting assistant Clayton Bates, who was fired after just two seasons leading Western Michigan's program.
After the job came open again this year, Stephens was among one of the leading candidates, alongside Michigan assistant and Western Michigan alum Saddi Washington, who elected to remain on the Wolverines staff.
After nearly going 20 years with the same coaching staff, Izzo will now make new hires in back-to-back offseasons. There have been rumblings that the Spartan head coach could make a run at Tom Crean, who was fired by Georgia this offseason.
Crean also has head coaching experience in the Midwest footprint at Indiana and Marquette, and would help fill the recruiting void left by Stephens absence.
