WATCH: Tom Izzo goes off on ESPN's Dan Dakich, demands apology
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo says he wants an apology from ESPN college basketball analyst Dan Dakich after several social media posts calling Spartans fans "whiny" and "dumb."
During Michigan State's 74–66 victory over Ohio State on Tuesday, the student section at the Breslin Center could be heard saying "We hate Dakich." Izzo said he didn't know what the chants were about until after the game.
"I've got to be honest with you, I was kind of getting upset with the chants of Dakich until I got in the locker room, and I asked what was that all about?" Izzo said. "Somebody read me his tweets. Social media. And if I would have known that before the game, I would have embarrassed myself almost as much as he embarrassed himself and I would have led the chants because calling us whiners and all that is kind of unprofessional."
Last week, Dakich tweeted at a fan, saying in part, "Sparty not only whines but now just dumb!! Couldn't get into UM??" That tweet has since been deleted.
Dakich's son, Andrew, is a senior guard for Michigan.
"That is a disappointment and that is ridiculous and I think it's funny because I've got no respect for him for that. You can read it, you can tweet it, you can do whatever you want with it. But Twitter got him in trouble, and I'm surprised ESPN would let somebody say something like that that works for them," Izzo said.
"Danny owes our fans and our students an apology. And I probably won't get it. I've always gotten along with Dan, but as you know, it seems like this year a lot of people have been mad at me, but I would have loved to get in that Izzone and joined those chants if I was on Twitter. Thank God, I'm not. Thank God some of my friends are," Izzo continued.
Michigan State (16–10, 8–5 Big Ten) next plays at No. 16 Purdue on Saturday.
- Scooby Axson
