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Tom Izzo Supports Ref Who Ejected Former MSU Star From Courtside Seat in Strange Scene
Michigan State had no problem throttling USC in a battle for Aegean supremacy on Monday night in East Lansing with the Spartans encountering little resistance en route to a 80-51 victory. The only drama came in the form of an unruly courtside patron, who was surprisingly revealed to be former MSU star Paul Davis after referee Jeffrey Anderson enlisted Tom Izzo's help in dealing with the situation. What followed was an odd scene as the legendary basketball coach yelled across the hardwood and the former Los Angeles Clipper shuffled out of the arena.
Izzo provided some answers to anyone who was wondering what the heck that was all about during his post-game press conference.
"I love Paul Davis, I really do, he's one of my favorite guys," Izzo said. "What he said, you should never say anywhere in the world, and that ticked me off. And so, just because it's 20 years later I'm going to have to call him tomorrow and tell him what I thought of it. And you know what he'll say? 'I screwed up coach. Sorry.' He kind of got after the official and he was 150 percent wrong. And for a guy like me to 150 percent agree with the official, it's almost illegal."
"So I feel bad that Paul did that because he's been a guy that comes back a lot," Izzo continued. "But he's been really good with our players... Let's not get carried away, it wasn't something racial, it wasn't something sexual. It was just the wrong thing to say and I'll leave it at that."
Davis, a former Spartans big man who averaged 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds as a senior during the '05-'06 season, played in a Final Four for Izzo two decades ago and, as the coach mentioned, is still active around the program. On Monday night, he was apparently too active.
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Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.