Exclusive: Tom Izzo On Being Lupe's Handyman While Off
East Lansing, MI—Tom Izzo’s Hall of Fame career has been in East Lansing. He is the most significant figure on the campus and is Mr. MSU.
Today would have been the championship game before the NCAA Tournament, canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. He is used to being at those games either as a fan or a coach.
In an exclusive interview with Spartan Nation, he talked about not recruiting and no games, how is he dealing with self-quarantine, and being his wife Lupe’s handyman.
“You know, like everybody, we all talk about hoping to be in Atlanta this weekend, and none of us are. It’s been an adjustment, and anytime I talk about basketball and the adjustments. We talk about things that just happen like we did, you almost feel guilty talking about it because there are so many tough things that are going on out there and so many people are going through. The inconvenience of staying in your house seems small compared to what some people are going through. First, I would say that, but as far as me here, I push the pause button and pushing the button that says look back, appreciate what you got, all of the things none of us do, not just Tom Izzo, you Hondo, probably 99% of the listeners we never appreciate how good we got it. The one thing that my parents have told me and I try to tell my kids it doesn’t matter how much fame, money, and anything else you have, friends, marriage, it doesn’t, none of it matters compared to your health, cause without it nothing matters. We all take it for granted, and this is giving me a time to reflect a little bit on that. Giving me time to hit the pause button, look around, and say what the important things in life are. It’s giving me the chance to spend some time with my family. In all honesty, there’s good and bad to that, you know the honey-do list it’s in computer form now, they’ve probably gone ten years without doing it so, as I said in interviews I clean my garage, clean my attic, I’m halfway done with that, I clean my office and my closet, you just realize that years keep piling on. So it’s been, I’d like to say to you and make everybody feel good, that my wife’s been and kids are making me do this and that but when you’re in my job you learn to fend for yourself, and you’re pretty independent. So, they’re adjusting to telling me what to do and how to do it, and we’re all trying to work together like everybody else.”
Keep your computer tuned to Spartan Nation for more of our exclusive interview with Tom Izzo all week.
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