| | ESPN.com news services
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Tom Izzo, who led Michigan State to
the NCAA basketball title, said Saturday he has turned down a
lucrative offer to coach the Atlanta Hawks and will return to the
Spartans, as ESPN's David Aldridge reported earlier.
|  | | Mateen Cleaves, left, is NBA-bound. Spartans' coach Tom Izzo said Saturday he won't be joining his star point guard. |
"I wish some of you could understand that sometimes we have to
make tough decisions and sometimes they're not in the best interest
of everybody," Izzo said. "I do feel that I am giving up a great
financial opportunity and a great dream to coach in the NBA, but
it's not for nothing."
Published reports said the Hawks offered Izzo a five-year
contract worth more than $15 million if he took the job left vacant
by Lenny Wilkens.
Izzo, who last month guided the Spartans to the NCAA
championship, spent Thursday with Hawks general manager Pete
Babcock and Hawks president Stan Kasten.
Babcock confirmed Saturday that he offered the head coaching job
to Izzo, but he would not discuss any potential signing bonus or
further details of the offer.
"I'm not going to kid you, Tom was our man. We went through the
interview process, and Tom Izzo was a guy we thought was a perfect
fit," Babcock said by phone. "We knew it would be a longshot.
He's had such great longevity and success at one place. It's hard
to uproot that kind of situation."
Babcock said Izzo never accepted the Hawks job. "We talked seriously, but he never changed his mind," Babcock said. "He needed to answer a lot of questions for himself, and he
decided this was the best thing for him to do."
"It seemed like a long process to some," Izzo said, "but to me it was just
something I had to look into."
Izzo has a 120-48 record in five seasons as head coach,
including three straight Big Ten titles and consecutive appearances
in the Final Four. The 45-year-old coach, making about $850,000 a
year, recently agreed to a new five-year, rollover contract that
would be worth $1.1 million annually, plus bonuses.
Izzo has been at Michigan State for 17 years, having worked
previously as an assistant for Jud Heathcote.
The Hawks began pursuing Izzo in early April, shortly after the
Spartans defeated Florida to win the second NCAA championship in
Michigan State history. Babcock met with Izzo at the Desert
Classic, a pre-NBA draft camp in Phoenix, but didn't make the coach
an offer.
Later, Babcock and Izzo talked again. This time
there was an offer: $1.8 million per year. Izzo passed on that. A week ago, however, the Hawks increased the offer to a reported
$2.95 million per season. It was all guaranteed, and Izzo now was
interested.
"I was flabbergasted," Izzo said after returning to East
Lansing on a private jet provided by the Hawks. "I won't lie. That was a little mind-boggling to me. That piqued my interest."
Atlanta has been searching for a new coach since Wilkens resigned under pressure April 24.
Wilkens, the winningest coach in NBA history, spent seven seasons with the Hawks. The team missed the playoffs for the first time in eight years and struggled to its worst record (28-54)
since moving to Atlanta in 1968.
Izzo held a brief news conference Friday afternoon where he
declared he hadn't made up his mind on the offer and needed more
time.
Izzo said he consulted with his boyhood friend and San Francisco
49ers coach Steve Mariucci, former Michigan State players Magic
Johnson, Scott Skiles and Steve Smith, plus Grand Rapids
businessman Peter Secchia.
He also talked with Philadelphia coach Larry Brown, the only
other coach to leave a defending NCAA champion for the NBA. Brown
moved to San Antonio in 1988 after leading Kansas to a
championship.
In recent years, college coaches such as Rick Pitino, P.J.
Carlesimo and John Calipari have struggled after jumping to the
NBA. "I've kind of been a college guy most of my life," Izzo said.
Izzo held a team meeting Friday night at the home of assistant
coach Brian Gregory which was attended by most of the Michigan
State players and the coaching staff. "My players were 200 percent supportive of my decision," Izzo
said.
"He let everybody say what was on their mind," star guard
Mateen Cleaves told the Lansing State Journal for Saturday's
editions. "Everybody really, really appreciated him coming back
here to discuss the situation."
Cleaves, who moves on to the NBA next season, declined to
provide details of the meeting.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. | |
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