Tom Izzo sees chemistry parallels between Michigan State, Golden State
EAST LANSING – Tom Izzo has bounced from the West Coast to the Midwest the past few weeks, following the NBA Finals from San Francisco to Cleveland.
The travel allowed him to watch Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors, his former star pupil at Michigan State. But Izzo also sees parallels between this Warriors team and what he believes his Spartans can be this winter.
“Back in March, we made a couple decisions that were tough decisions about what direction we wanted to go with a couple of key recruits. We don’t want to screw up the chemistry we got right now,” Izzo said Friday on WVFN-AM 730 in Lansing. “I think chemistry is very valuable. When I get out to Golden State and, after the game, I’m in the family room and in the hallway with all the players, it’s an unbelievable collection of guys who get along. I mean, you’re talking some pretty good players – (Andre) Iguodala’s a kid, (David) West – that are coming off the bench. Draymond, the sacrifices he made for Kevin Durant.
“Winning is a priority there. I think those are the kind of guys we’ve got.”
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One of the recruits Izzo likely alluded to was Saginaw native Brian Bowen, whose prolonged recruitment took some dramatic turns over the past few months since his official visit to Breslin Center on Jan. 29.
MSU was one five finalists for the five-star forward, along with Arizona, Texas, Creighton and North Carolina State.
Then everyone waited. And things changed.
The Spartans, by Izzo’s comments, began to distance themselves. Miles Bridges decided to return to MSU for his sophomore season, taking up a spot and plenty of shots for next season. And at Arizona, guard Allonzo Trier stayed and bypassed the NBA draft. By the end, none of Bowen’s top five were his destination. He picked Louisville over Oregon, DePaul and the others.
With five-star big man Brandon McCoy picking UNLV and high-rising guard Mark Smith staying at home in Illinois, MSU still has one scholarship left for this fall. Izzo is comfortable banking it until 2018.
“Sometimes, you get too many stars and then you got chemistry issues,” Izzo said. “I think we’re pretty much almost 99.9% set how we are. If there was a transfer that had to sit out, maybe we’d look at that. But we think that next year could be a big recruiting class, and we want to make sure we have the scholarships for that, too.”