Tom Izzo calls out Foster Loyer-haters in Michigan State’s fanbase: ‘Pull for somebody else’
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo calls things how he sees them. He’s not afraid to call out one of his own players. He’s not afraid to call out Big Ten officiating. And he’s not afraid to call out his own fanbase.
Izzo cares deeply for his players, and they know it – that's evident in how his players talk about him when they leave East Lansing. Izzo’s love for his players extends to those who leave the program too, like Davidson’s Foster Loyer.
Izzo said that he’s had several talks with Loyer throughout the season, and would likely talk to his former point guard at some point before the Spartans and Wildcats collide in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Michigan State's head coach most recently spoke to Loyer during a four-game stretch in which the junior was unable to play, due to a leg injury. In addition to checking in with Loyer, Izzo also continues to defend his former point guard, who Izzo believes was mistreated by some during his three seasons in East Lansing.
“I just hope and pray that the same idiots that attacked him when he was here…don’t try to do that now,” Izzo said in a press conference on Monday.
“That’s the only thing that would ruin this for me – if people were like they were when he was here, because I thought that was completely asinine. If any Michigan State people do that, they can pull for somebody else. That’s how strongly I feel about it.”
Loyer was a Top 100 national recruit in the 2018 recruiting class out of Clarkston High School. He received a scholarship offer from Michigan State as a freshman, committed to the Spartans as a sophomore, and was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Michigan as a senior.
He spent three seasons, mostly as a role player and a backup point guard, in East Lansing before transferring to Davidson. According to Izzo, Loyer's decision to leave the program was a difficult one, and that it took a couple weeks of discussion between player and coach before Loyer made that decision.
“When Foster left here, it was a two week session of going back and forth, and pros and cons,” Izzo said. “And, unlike just kind of going in [to the portal] like the modern times – the way, to me, weak people do – he sat in my office and talked about it. He didn’t just go and sign his name up on a sheet without the coach knowing or something. He did it the real way, the right way.”
Izzo made it clear that the vitriol that Loyer got from some who follow the program does not sit well with the head coach.
“Nobody deserves some of the different things that have happened to people, nor do I deserve it sometimes, but I get paid for it,” Izzo said.
That being said, on Friday night, Izzo and Loyer will be on opposing sidelines, and the nature of competition will be alive and well between the two.
“On that night, I’m not going to like him any more than he’s going to like me,” Izzo said. “So, that’s the beauty of the tournament. It’s not always liking, it’s respecting your opponent. He’ll have total respect. If anybody fouls him, I’ll probably take the kid out of the game because I know [Loyer’s] not missing a free throw.”
Loyer still has another year of eligibility remaining beyond this season, but when his playing career at Davidson is over, Izzo would like to share a sideline with Loyer again.
“My dream is some day is he comes back here and is a [grad assistant] and works his way in, because I think he’ll be a coach,” Izzo said. “Just like I’ve often said about some of my counterparts that I’ve got to go against, I can’t like him Friday night, but I can respect and love what he’s done for me and for a lot of people.”
