MSU's Tom Izzo: Spartan Culture Can be Partially Credited to 'Continuity'

Michigan State men's basketball has only had three head coaches since 1969.

- -Current MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo, center, shakes hands with former MSU coaches Gus Ganakas, Jud Heathcote and Pete Newell, left to right, in Oakland, Ca, Saturday night before the Spartans' basketball game against Stanford in the Pete Newell Challenge.Title Izzo Three Coaches / Rod Sanford/Lansing State Journal

While the Michigan State men's basketball program has seemingly lost its mojo in the last few seasons, that Spartan culture will never change.

That was evident when former Michigan State wide receiver and basketball guard Keon Coleman returned for basketball Senior Night last year, despite having transferred to Florida State for his final collegiate season.

"[W]hen he [Coleman] called and said he was coming up, I said, 'You're kidding me,'" Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo told Josh Reed of WIVB News 4. "Because that took courage. Are people going to be mad at him? Well, Tom Izzo wasn't going to be. Because I understood the situation. But are people going to be? But he sat right in the front row, he sat on the table as those guys were getting introduced, he wore Steven's [Izzo] jersey. That wasn't just for show. I mean, that's who he is."

Izzo partially attributed that "once a Spartan, always a Spartan" mindset to the consistency his program has had in regards to coaching.

"I do think -- and it's not a recruiting pitch -- but I do think we've developed something here that's been special, and part of it is because we've had three basketball coaches in 60-some years," Izzo said. "So there's continuity from the Magic [Earvin 'Magic' Johnson] era to the before Magic era to the after Magic era. And that always helps. But even in football here, we had a guy named George Perles ... and George always believed in bringing guys back."

Senior Night has always been a special night for not only the graduating seniors but also the alumni, as many return to pay hoomage to their home. For a player like Coleman to have returned after having already transferred -- and at the time, was preparing for his next chapter in the NFL -- it spoke volumes about the effect Michigan State can have on its alumni.

Coleman would go on to be selected by the Buffalo Bills in this year's NBA Draft. He played two seasons of football and one of basketball while at Michigan State.

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