MSU's Izzo Among 'Most Admired' Leaders in Sports
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The admiration for Tom Izzo doesn't stop when he leaves East Lansing.
This week, The Athletic published a list of the 40 "most admired" leaders in all of sports. The premise is intentionally vague, as people can be admired for many different reasons. Michigan State's head coach made the list at 11th.
Izzo is the third-highest-ranked college basketball coach listed and the highest-ranked coach on the men's side. South Carolina women's coach Dawn Staley is second; UConn women's coach Geno Auriemma is fourth.
“I admire his old-school train of thought," Stephanie Norman, an assistant coach for Arizona State women's basketball, said in the story. "He’s a man of principle. Time is the only filter that I trust, and I’m obsessed with people who can stay in this industry for a long time. Longevity is the biggest flex. … He keeps it real, and his players and team reflect his values.”
More on Izzo's Placement in List
Izzo's longevity is without question. He's currently in the middle of his 31st season as the head coach at Michigan State, which doesn't even include the 11 years he spent as an assistant. This year's MSU team is well on its way to extending the program's active NCAA Tournament streak to 28 seasons in a row (it would be becoming 29 if the 2020 tourney wasn't canceled).
It's not a secret that Izzo is not necessarily the biggest fan of the rules (or lack thereof) of the current age compared to the earlier days of his career. Alas, longevity cannot be achieved without some adaptability, and that's what Izzo has been able to achieve. That's what the tournament streak is still alive and looking healthy again.
Not every tremendous coach of Izzo's generation has been so willing to adapt so much. College basketball has seen several legendary coaches retire semi-recently, including Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina's, Kansas' and North Carolina's Roy Williams, and Virginia's Tony Bennett.
Other successful coaches, such as Rick Pitino and John Calipari, are still around, but those two coaches have jumped between several different schools during their careers, which lessens their individual impacts at one place. Part of what makes Izzo so admired is that he has stuck with MSU for so long.
What also stands out about the list is that Izzo is actually just one of two men's college basketball coaches listed. The only other men's coach is Marquette's Shaka Smart, who just got in at 39th.
No college football coaches got above Izzo, either. Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman came in at 20th, and Oregon's Dan Lanning made it at 30th.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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