EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Tom Izzo has turned down multiple opportunities to coach in the NBA, including with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks.
When the Los Angeles Lakers were willing to give UConn coach Dan Hurley a $70 million, six-year contract in 2024, Hurley asked Izzo for advice.
“I told him to seriously look at it because I could see where college basketball was going,” Izzo told The Associated Press on Monday. “But I said, I would hate to lose him because I think he’s all that is right about college basketball. He cares about the kids. He cares about the game. He has to care about the game because of his dad.”
Bob Hurley Sr. won more than two dozen state championships at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, developing dozens of Division I college players.
Izzo and third-seeded Michigan State will face Hurley and the second-seeded Huskies in Washington on Friday night in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
The 53-year-old Hurley, who is in his eighth season at UConn, won consecutive national championships in 2023-24. He is 17-5 in the NCAA Tournament, winning 77.3% of games to rank No. 1 among active coaches and fourth all time among coaches with at least 15 games.
The 71-year-old Izzo has earned a record 28 consecutive bids to March Madness and won an NCAA title in 2000 — the last by a Big Ten team — in one of his eight Final Four appearances during his Hall of Fame career.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
