Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said he “talked seriously” last offseason about becoming coach of the Phoenix Suns, a franchise owned by Mat Ishbia, a former Spartans player.
Izzo made the revelation on “The Dan Patrick Show” on Wednesday when the topic turned to past NBA opportunities for the 71-year-old coach.
“I was a lot younger, but I have (had) more than a couple of job offers in the NBA and looked at one last year with Phoenix,” Izzo said during the show.
“My former player, Mat Ishbia — that was hard. That was a hard thing to turn down because … I kind of wanted to go with him.”
Ishbia, a walk-on guard, appeared in 48 games over three seasons (1999-2002) with the Spartans and was a member of Michigan State’s 2000 national championship team.
Patrick asked Izzo if he was offered the Phoenix head coaching job.
“Well, we talked seriously about it, let’s say that,” Izzo said. “And then No. 2 is, I’ve been pretty vocal about it, I don’t like what’s going on in college athletics, but by the way, neither do 99.98% of the football and basketball coaches in America.”
Ishbia eventually hired Jordan Ott, who was a former Michigan State video coordinator. Ott worked under Izzo for five seasons before leaving after the 2012-13 season to become a video coordinator for the Atlanta Hawks.
Ott has coached the Suns to a 42-34 record and the club is still in the hunt for a top-six playoff position in the Western Conference.
Earlier during his 31-season coaching stint at Michigan State, Izzo considered head-coaching gigs for the Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers. Atlanta’s overtures came right after Michigan State’s 2000 national title while Izzo turned down the Cavaliers post shortly after the Spartans were ousted by Butler in the 2010 Final Four.
Izzo has a 764-310 record at Michigan State and has coached the Spartans to eight Final Fours.
The Spartans went 27-8 this season and were eliminated by UConn in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Izzo was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
