Why MSU's Fears Doesn't Think Izzo Is Retiring Soon
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Tom Izzo is entering Year 32 in charge of Michigan State basketball. He'll be 72 when this coming season wraps up. The Spartans' legendary coach is at the point where everybody seems to wonder, "Could this be it?" every year now.
MSU's All-American point guard, Jeremy Fears Jr., thinks Izzo has plenty of time left to go. Fears appeared Thursday on The Field of 68 network to talk about both his coach's long-term outlook with the Spartans, as well as his own decision to withdraw from the NBA Draft and remain at Michigan State.
Fears' Thoughts on Izzo
Izzo is one of the oldest head coaches in college basketball. He's the oldest head coach in the Big Ten. His 31-year, about-to-be 32-year tenure is the second-longest active tenure in Division I hoops, too. The only coach ahead of him is Greg Kampe, who is entering his 43rd season at Oakland. Even then, a decent chunk of Kampe's tenure at Oakland was at the Division II level.
Fears actually admitted that he had some worries about whether Izzo would stick around throughout his collegiate career. Any fears Fears had (pun intended) have definitely been quelled a bit as he's gotten to know Izzo over the last three years.
“Honestly, coming in, I was like, ‘Who knows?’" Fears said on The Field of 68's podcast. "Obviously, being a young kid: ‘What’s Coach Izzo going to do? How long [until he retires]?’ But every year, he enjoys it. He loves helping young guys. He loves getting high school players and building them up, seeing that process of them starting as a 17-year-old kid to 20, 21, and being able to accomplish your goals and get to where you wanted to get to."
“He loves seeing that, and that’s something he cares about. I think [Izzo] will be here for a while, honestly. I don’t think he’s going anywhere; I don’t think he wants to go anywhere. He loves what he's doing. He's able to help the community; he's able to help the university; he's helping his players; he's helping the staff.”
The incoming roster certainly might be part of the reason why Izzo stuck around for another one. Fears is bringing back 15.2 points and 9.4 assists per game, but plenty of other core parts of the team are also set to return. MSU is probably set to be ranked in that No. 5-8 range when the preseason AP Poll eventually gets voted on and released.
"We've got some very talented freshmen that I think are even better than me at the time that I came in," Fears said. "They're really skilled, and I think they're ready to play now. Our freshmen that are now sophomores took a big jump. We were able to go get a transfer center [Anton Bonke] to go with the guys we've got returning. I think, really, everyone took a jump this summer, and I think we have a really good chance at being special."
Decision To Come Back
All this preseason hype wouldn't be happening had Fears kept his name in the NBA Draft, though. Fears waited until roughly 90 minutes before the deadline to officially announce his return to Michigan State. The separator between being a surefire preseason top-10 team and either being around the 20s or unranked was just an hour and a half.
“Ultimately, obviously, I want to be an NBA player," Fears said. "That’s for sure my goal or my dream. Just giving me another opportunity and chance to keep increasing my stock and be with my guys. We’ve got a great team coming in and coming back. So, just obviously, we’ve got a great chance to do something special. Our goal is to win the national championship, and we have the team, the guys, and the right coach to do it.”
It's also not uncommon to see fringe NBA Draft prospects like Fears enter the transfer portal while simultaneously going through the process with the pros. Fears' decision was always between Michigan State and the NBA. The lack of transfers away from MSU is one of the things that brought Fears to East Lansing in the first place.
"Coach Izzo, he does a great job with his guys," Fears said. "That connection, that family, you don’t feel like you want to go anywhere. That’s really huge with us. You never really see a lot of freshman-year, one-time transfers out... You can’t buy memories. No matter the dollar amount… I would rather have my memories of me and my family and be here. This is basically my home.”
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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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