Heartbreak: The greatest Michigan State Basketball of all time have terminated his contract to sign a new contract.
Tom Izzo, the Hall of Fame basketball coach of Michigan State, and the team announced their agreement to a lifetime contract on Thursday.
The contract still needs to be officially approved by the Michigan State Board of Trustees at its September meeting, but for the coach who has guided the Spartans’ team since 1995, that will only be a formality.
It is a rollover deal that is officially for five years, with an average yearly value of $6.2 million, or $31 million.
Izzo’s contract places him with Bill Self at Kansas and John Calipari at Kentucky. In 2019, Calipari and Self agreed to a lifetime contract; in 2021, Self followed suit.
“I’m thrilled to sign this contract because Michigan State has been my home and my family’s home for 40 years,” Izzo stated in a press release. “It means a great deal to me that the Board of Trustees, President (Samuel L.) Stanley, (athletic director) Alan Haller and the University continue to have the confidence in our program as we strive to be not only the best men’s basketball team in the country, but to play a role in helping every program in the department achieve success.”
Haller stated that Izzo’s declaration 12 years ago that he would be a Spartan for life is still upheld by the new agreement.
“Not only is Tom Izzo a Hall of Fame basketball coach, he’s a terrific ambassador for Michigan State University and Spartan Athletics,” Haller stated. “He is very important to our department, university, community, and Spartans all over the world. Despite having a championship-filled CV that solidifies his legacy, Coach Izzo is obviously driven to achieve even more and instill enormous pride in the hearts of Spartans everywhere. Tom Izzo is an incredibly fortunate man to lead Michigan State’s basketball team.”
Izzo will be heading into his 28th season as the head coach of the Spartans. Twelve years after joining Michigan State as an assistant coach in 1983, he assumed the role of head coach. Izzo’s teams have an overall record of 666-267 and a.714 winning percentage.
The Spartans were the final Big Ten team to win an NCAA championship, having done so in 2000. Under Izzo, the team has made it to eight Final Fours, participated in a league-high 24 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, and won 10 regular-season and six tournament championships in the Big Ten.
