Tom Izzo Hometown: Iron Mountain, Mich. Position: Head Coach Experience: 13th Year Alma Mater: Northern Michigan '77

In his 13th year directing the Spartan program, head coach Tom Izzo has compiled an impressive list of accomplishments, including one NCAA National Championship, four regular-season Big Ten Championships, two Big Ten Tournament titles, four Final Four appearances, four National Coach of the Year awards and a Big Ten-best 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

These accomplishments, however, are not what make Izzo one of the best in the game, but rather it is his insatiable desire to accomplish more.

With a career record of 278-121, it's easy to see that Izzo knows how to win, but he also knows how to win the right way. In his 12 full years directing the Spartan program, 82 percent of his players who completed their eligibility also left with a degree. In the last eight years, 26 Spartans have received their undergraduate degrees, including five each in 2001, 2003 and 2007.

In 12 seasons, Izzo has returned Michigan State to national prominence, placed his name in the NCAA record books and become a leader among college basketball coaches.

Izzo's 278 wins are the ninth most by any coach in his first 12 seasons in the history of college basketball. In the NCAA Tournament, Izzo is at his best, winning at a clip of .727 to rank fifth among all active coaches with at least 10 tournament games coached. In 2005, Izzo led MSU to its fourth Final Four in the last seven seasons, becoming the only team to accomplish that feat in the last seven seasons and just the eighth in college basketball history. Izzo also became just the second coach in NCAA history to reach four Final Fours in his first 10 years of coaching, joining Ohio State's Fred Taylor, and just the sixth coach in NCAA history to appear in Four Final Fours in a seven-year span.

Furthermore, Izzo brings stability to Michigan State basketball. The 2006-07 season was Izzo's 24th with the Spartans. He is the longest serving active Big Ten men's basketball head coach. He is also a leader among his peers, serving on the NABC Board of Directors, the John R. Wooden Award Board of Governors and a select NCAA committee of five of the top college basketball coaches in the game.

Over the past 10 seasons, Izzo has compiled an impressive 245-93 (.725) record. A quick look at other stats further demonstrates the Spartans' success over that stretch: 115-45 (.719) in the Big Ten; 141-13 (.916) at the Breslin Center, including a Big Ten record 53-game winning streak; 55-48 (.534) against Top 25 teams; 35-17 (.673) in postseason play and 24-9 (.727) in the NCAA Tournament.

Individually, players have excelled under Izzo. Six Spartans (Charlie Bell, Mateen Cleaves, Paul Davis, Drew Neitzel, Morris Peterson and Jason Richardson) have earned some form of All-America honors, while Chris Hill was a three-time Academic All-American. Eighteen different players have earned all-conference recognition.

One of the reasons for Izzo's success is his ability to recruit some of the nation's most talented high school players. During his time as head coach, Izzo has recruited eight McDonald's All-Americans, including seven in the last seven years (Mateen Cleaves - 1996, Jason Richardson - 1999, Zach Randolph - 2000, Marcus Taylor - 2000, Kelvin Torbert - 2001, Paul Davis - 2002 and Shannon Brown and Brandon Cotton - 2003). In addition, five of the last eight Michigan Mr. Basketball award winners suited up for the Green and White (1999 - Richardson, 2000 - Taylor, 2001 - Torbert, 2002 - Davis, 2004 - Drew Neitzel), while Shannon Brown won the 2003 Illinois Mr. Basketball Award.

But perhaps even more important to Izzo's success is his ability to take young talent and develop a player's skills, allowing him to grow as a player and go on to play professionally. Since 2000, Michigan State has had 10 players selected in the NBA Draft, including six first rounders (Mateen Cleaves - 2000 first round, Morris Peterson - 2000 first round, Jason Richardson - 2001 first round, Zach Randolph - 2001 first round, Andre Hutson - 2001 second round, Marcus Taylor - 2002 second round, Erazem Lorbek - 2005 second round, Shannon Brown - 2006 first round, Maurice Ager - 2006 first round, Paul Davis - 2006 second round). Ager, Cleaves, Davis, Richardson, Randolph and Taylor were all high school All-Americans, but Izzo took Hutson and Peterson, who were not ranked in the top 75 coming out of high school, and turned them into NBA talent. In addition, Izzo-recruit Charlie Bell played in the NBA during the 2001-02 season after signing a free agent contract. Last season, Bell signed another NBA free agent contract with the Milwaukee Bucks and was a regular contributor on their 2006 playoff team, and Alan Anderson, a member of the 2005 Final Four team, signed a free agent contract with the Charlotte Bobcats.

Izzo has also emerged as a teacher, not only to his players, but also his assistant coaches. Five current Division I head coaches all served as assistants to Izzo, including Stan Joplin (Toledo), Tom Crean (Marquette), Stan Heath (Arkansas), Brian Gregory (Dayton), and Doug Wojcik (Tulsa). Current assistant Mike Garland spent three seasons as head coach at Cleveland State following an initial seven-year stint.

This past season, Michigan State finished with a 23-12 mark, recording the eighth 20-win season in the last 10 years. Of the 16 20-win seasons in Michigan State history, Izzo has been involved in 13 of them, eight as a head coach and five as an assistant. The Spartans had to overcome a large amount of adversity and a very difficult Big Ten schedule, but they did advance to a 10th-straight NCAA Tournament. At the end of the season, Izzo said it was one of his most rewarding seasons as a coach.

In 2005-06, Michigan State finished with a 22-12 mark. The Spartans played one of the nation's toughest schedules, playing more games against teams ranked in the RPI top 25 (13) and top 50 (18) than any other school in the nation. In fact, MSU recorded four wins against teams ranked in the AP Top 10 at the time of the game, marking the second-most victories against top-10 teams in school history.

In Big Ten games, Michigan State led the conference in five statistical categories including free-throw percentage (.781), field-goal percentage (.469), rebounding defense (30.1), rebounding margin (+4.2) and assists (15.81 apg). It marks the third straight year that MSU has led the conference in both free-throw and field-goal percentage. The Spartans have led the Big Ten in rebounding margin in nine of the last 11 seasons.

Michigan State returned to the Final Four in 2005, becoming the only team to appear in four of the last seven Final Fours. The Spartans finished the season with a 26-7 mark, equaling the 1979 team for the fifth-highest win total in school history. MSU finished the regular season with a 22-5 record. Since Michigan State joined the Big Ten, only three Spartan teams finished the regular season with fewer losses. In Big Ten play, MSU finished second with a 13-3 mark.

MSU opened the NCAA Tournament with victories over Old Dominion and Vermont. The Spartans then defeated No. 1 Duke and No. 2 Kentucky in the Austin Regional semifinals and finals, becoming the first team in tournament history to defeat the Blue Devils and the Wildcats in the same year. Despite losing to North Carolina in the Final Four, Izzo was named the 2005 Clair Bee Award winner, recognizing the Division I men's basketball coach who has made the most significant positive contribution to his sport.

Not only did the 2004-05 Spartans win, they were also statistically impressive, ranking in the top 15 nationally in six statistical categories, including free-throw percentage (3rd, .777), scoring margin (7th, +13.1), assists per game (10th, 17.1 apg), field-goal percentage (11th, .487), rebound margin (11th, +6.8) and scoring offense (13th, 78.5 ppg). MSU displayed one of its most potent scoring attacks in years, leading the Big Ten in scoring for the second straight year with 78.5 points per game. It was MSU's highest scoring average since the 1985-86 team averaged 83.1 points.

During the season, Izzo reached another personal milestone. With MSU's victory over Duke in the NCAA Tournament, Izzo recorded his 232nd win at MSU, moving past Benjamin Van Alstyne for the second most number of career wins in Spartan coaching history. Izzo also had a full summer of 2005. In July, he had the opportunity to play golf with Tiger Woods at the Buick Open Pro-Am. In mid-August, Izzo was one of a select number of coaches at Michael Jordan's Senior Flight School.

The summer closed with Izzo traveling to Kuwait to take part in "Operation Hardwood - Hoops With The Troops." Izzo was one of eight coaches and sports personalities coaching 13-member military basketball teams on Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, from Aug. 27-31. Camp Arifjan defeated the other bases to win the championship under the direction of Coach Izzo.

In 2003-04, MSU opened the season with a 5-7 mark after taking on one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in NCAA history. But rather than give up, Izzo and the Spartans rallied to win 12 of the next 15 games to close the regular season, finishing just one game out of first place in the Big Ten. For the year, MSU posted an 18-12 mark, 12-4 in the Big Ten.

The 2003-04 season saw the Spartans find another way to be successful as Michigan State became the first team in Big Ten history to lead the conference in scoring offense (71.3 ppg), field-goal percentage (.522), 3-point field-goal percentage (.434) and free-throw percentage (.777) in the same season.

Izzo also reached a couple of personal milestones during the 2003-04 campaign. On Feb. 4, 2004, MSU defeated Iowa, 89-72, as Izzo recorded the 200th victory of his Spartan career, becoming just the third coach in MSU history to accomplish that feat. He also became the eighth head coach in NCAA history to record 200 wins in his first nine seasons. Ten days later, Izzo became the 17th coach in Big Ten history to record 100 league wins as MSU defeated Minnesota, 69-58, on Feb. 14. He is just the third coach to reach win No. 100 in his first nine seasons, joining Bob Knight and Gene Keady.

The 2002-03 season was a study in perseverance. A variety of factors, including four members of the playing group missing a significant number of games due to injuries, meant the Spartans found themselves with a 14-11 record in the last week of February. Izzo rallied his team to win the final four regular-season games and eight of the last 10 conference games to finish 10-6 in the Big Ten, good for third place in the league. For the sixth straight season, MSU led the Big Ten with +5.5 rebound margin, ranking 21st in the nation.

Michigan State made even bigger noise during the NCAA Tournament. The No. 7 seed Spartans easily dismissed Colorado in the first round, setting up a matchup with the No. 2 seed Florida Gators. The Spartans shocked many experts with a 68-46 victory in the Gators' home state. In the Sweet Sixteen, Michigan State defeated defending-national champion Maryland in a thrilling two-point game, before eventually falling to the No. 1 seed Texas Longhorns in the Lone Star State.

The Elite Eight appearance was the fourth for MSU in the last five years. During that time period, no other school made more than two trips. In fact, since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, just three programs (Duke, Kentucky and Michigan State) have advanced to four Elite Eights in any five-year period. The 2001-02 season may prove to be one of Izzo's finest. Despite losing 81 percent of the scoring load and 75 percent of the rebounds from 2000-01, and having three of his key players miss several games with injuries, Izzo led the Spartans to a 10-6 Big Ten record, finishing just one game out of first place. MSU improved as the season progressed, winning 10 of the last 13 regular-season games. It finished the season with a 19-12 record and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth-straight season.

In 2000-01, Izzo earned NABC National Coach of the Year and District 11 Coach of the Year honors for leading Michigan State to its third straight Final Four and fourth straight regular-season Big Ten Championship. MSU became just the fourth school in Big Ten history to win four straight league titles.

MSU opened the season by winning its first 12 games to establish the best start in school history. On Dec. 25, 2000, the Spartans earned the top spot in The Associated Press Top 25, marking the first time they held the No. 1 position in the AP Poll since 1979. In Big Ten action, Michigan State posted a 13-3 record to win a share of the league crown. The Big Ten finale vs. Michigan marked Izzo's 100th Big Ten game. Through his first 100 games, Izzo posted a 72-28 mark, the fifth-best record in Big Ten history.

In the 2001 NCAA Tournament, Izzo guided the Spartans to a third straight Final Four. For a third consecutive season, Michigan State earned a No. 1 seed. MSU won the first three games by double figures, establishing a record with nine straight NCAA Tournament victories by double digits. When MSU defeated Temple, 69-62, in the South Regional Final, the Spartans became just the ninth school to reach three-straight Final Fours and just the third since the NCAA Tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985. On the season, MSU finished with a 28-5 record, marking a fourth straight 20-win season for the first time in school history.

Michigan State led the nation in rebound margin for the second straight season at +15.4 boards per game. The +15.4 margin tied for the fifth largest in Division I history and the greatest since 1980. The Spartans also ranked 13th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 61.8 points per game.

In 1999-2000, Michigan State captured the second NCAA Championship in school history and its third straight regular-season Big Ten Championship, marking the first time in school history, and only the eighth time overall, that a school had won three straight Big Ten regular-season titles. MSU also won at least 30 games for the second straight season, posting a 32-7 mark, becoming just the second Big Ten school to accomplish that feat. The 65 wins over the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons is the greatest two-year total in the history of the Big Ten. The Spartans also repeated as Big Ten Tournament champions.

Izzo also led MSU to consecutive Final Fours for the first time in school history. For his efforts, Izzo was named USBWA District V Coach of the Year and NABC District 11 Coach of the Year. The season also brought a personal milestone for Izzo, who recorded his 100th career victory in a Jan. 11, 2000, 77-71 overtime win over Indiana in the Breslin Center.

The 1999-2000 season began with high expectations as the Spartans opened the season among the top three in the national polls. Throughout the season, the Spartans were forced to overcome adversity. But after Big Ten titles in both the regular season and conference tournament, the Spartans were ranked No. 2 in the final Associated Press Poll of the season.

For the second consecutive season, Michigan State earned a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. After disposing of Valparaiso and Utah in Cleveland, Ohio, the Spartans moved on to the Sweet 16 at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Mich., where they recorded come-from-behind victories versus Syracuse and Iowa State. In the Final Four, MSU defeated Wisconsin for the fourth time that season. The Spartans then captured their second NCAA title in school history, defeating Florida, 89-76.

During the 1998-99 season, Izzo directed the Spartans on a magical run to the program's first appearance in the NCAA Final Four since 1979. Under Izzo's guidance, Michigan State posted a record of 33-5, establishing a school record for most wins in a season. For his efforts, Izzo was named the Basketball Times National Coach of the Year and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 11 Coach of the Year. Throughout the 1998-99 Big Ten season, Michigan State established itself as the class program of the conference. Izzo directed the school to its second straight Big Ten title. The Spartans followed up a 15-1 Big Ten regular season by capturing their first Big Ten Tournament championship. The 15 league wins tied a school record for most victories in conference play, while the Spartans' 93.8 winning percentage established a school record.

Izzo's Spartans were equally impressive at the national level. By the end of the regular season, Michigan State held a No. 2 ranking by both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN. MSU would finish the year ranked third, the highest showing by a Spartan team since the 1978-79 squad earned a No. 1 ranking.

Whereas MSU's success in 1998-99 was expected, the Spartans took the college basketball world by storm in 1997-98. Izzo became the first Michigan State coach to earn Associated Press National Coach of the Year honors while leading MSU to a 22-8 record and a share of the Big Ten title. The Spartans posted a 13-3 mark in conference, earning Izzo Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year honors.

Over the course of the 1997-98 season, Izzo and his team recorded six victories over teams ranked in the top 25 and finished the year ranked No. 10 nationally by USA Today/ESPN, marking the first time the Spartans had finished in the Top 10 since 1995. In addition to his AP award, Izzo was named National Coach of the Year by Basketball News and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Basketball Times selected Izzo as its Mideast Coach of the Year.

During Izzo's first season as head coach in 1995-96, he directed the Green and White to an overall slate of 16-16 including a 9-9 effort in the Big Ten. Izzo recorded wins over Top 25 teams on four occasions while leading the program to a berth in the NIT, where the Spartans advanced to the second round.

In 1996-97, Izzo guided the Green and White cagers to an overall mark of 17-12 including a Big Ten ledger of 9-9, good for a sixth-place tie. With one of the youngest starting lineups in the Big Ten, Izzo led the Spartans to a second straight NIT appearance, where they advanced to the second round.

About to enter his 25th season as a member of the MSU coaching staff, Izzo has been with the Spartan program since taking a part-time assistant coaching position in 1983. An assistant coach with the Spartans from 1983-86, Izzo left MSU in May of 1986 to become the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Tulsa. But, on June 10 of the same year, Izzo returned to East Lansing when Spartan assistant Mike Deane left to become head coach at Siena College.

Since then, he has been the catalyst in the resurgence of the MSU program. Regarded as one of the country's top recruiters, he is known as a tireless worker both on the recruiting trail and in the office. His hard work and loyalty were rewarded in July 1990, when Jud Heathcote appointed him associate head coach. His dutiful efforts were further recognized when, on March 30, 1993, then-MSU Athletics Director Merrily Dean Baker recommended both a one-year contract extension for Heathcote through the 1994-95 season and that Izzo be appointed head coach upon Jud's retirement. The MSU Board of Trustees accepted both recommendations on April 9, 1994.

Izzo originally came to MSU from Northern Michigan, where he had been an assistant from 1979-83. He was named a part-time assistant at MSU in September 1983. When former assistant Edgar Wilson left in November 1983, Izzo became a full-time assistant.

Izzo played guard for NMU's basketball team from 1973-77, and was voted the team's MVP as a senior. He was also a third-team Division II All-America pick that year and established the Wildcat record for most minutes played in a season. Following his graduation from NMU in 1977, Izzo took over as head coach at Ishpeming High School and served in that position for the 1977-78 campaign.

A native of Iron Mountain, Mich., Izzo and current Detroit Lions head coach Steve Mariucci were Iron Mountain High School teammates in football, basketball, baseball and track. As college roommates at Northern Michigan, Izzo walked on to the basketball team, while Mariucci did the same with football. Both would go on to earn Division II All-America honors. Despite their busy schedules, they remain the closest of friends. Each year, they co-host a golf tournament in Iron Mountain to raise money for the community.

In October 1990, Izzo was inducted into the Northern Michigan University Hall of Fame and was selected as an inductee into the Upper Peninsula Hall of Fame during the summer of 1998.

In 2001, Izzo received honorary degrees from both Northern Michigan and Michigan State, delivering the commencement address at both graduation ceremonies.

Izzo is also an active volunteer in the community. Among his many efforts, he is very active with Sparrow Hospital and the Catholic Social Services/St. Vincent Home for Children in Lansing.

Izzo was born January 30, 1955. His family includes his wife, Lupe, 13-year-old daughter, Raquel, and 7-year-old son, Steven.