Bryant's Phil Martelli Jr. Talks Irony of Facing Tom Izzo, MSU
When you've been in the game as long as Tom Izzo has and have been as involved as he has, there's not many faces you won't know.
That's why it doesn't come as much of a surprise that the 30-year Michigan State head coach has a connection to his team's next opponent, Bryant, as Izzo is good friends with the father of Bulldogs coach Phil Martelli Jr.
"Phil Martelli [Sr.] and I were on a lot of committees in the last six, seven, eight years," Izzo told reporters after Sunday's selection show. "I'd have to say he's one of my better friends in coaching, and he just sort of retired last year.
"And his son, Philip, I know. In fact, I called him yesterday to congratulate him on winning and getting in the tournament. Because I had talked to Phil, and ironically, now, we're going to play him."
Martelli Jr. also discussed the irony when he talked to reporters after he and his team learned their first-round matchup.
"The ironic thing is when I got the job here, back last year, one of the first phone calls I got was from Tom Izzo," Martelli Jr. said. "And then, on Thursday, in the morning, my phone rang, and it was Tom Izzo congratulating us. He and my dad have been very close; he was on my dad's podcast earlier a couple weeks ago.
"Just an incredible person, incredible man, cares about coaches, cares about the profession.
"So, that one seemed to come up a lot. He actually joked with my dad in a phone call this week and then again with me; he talked to my dad and said, 'You know, one of these predictions had us playing Bryant.' And he said to my dad, 'You know, that really sucks for you.' And he goes, 'Why?' He goes, 'You have to root against your son.'"
"So, I don't know what my dad's rooting interest will be -- I kind of have a sneaky suspicion what it will be. But yeah, it's an honor to be able to go up against him, for sure."
Martelli Sr. was the associate head coach at Michigan from 2019 through last season and served as the Wolverines' interim head coach during Juwan Howard's suspension in 2022 and acting head coach when Howard had to step away for a while due to heart surgery.
Prior to his time in Ann Arbor, Martelli Sr. served as the head coach at St. Joseph from 1995 to 2019.
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