"I was a lot younger but I have [had] more than a couple of job offers in the NBA and looked at one last year with Phoenix. My former player, Mat Ishbia -- that was hard. That was a hard thing to turn down because ... I kind of wanted to go with him."
"We talked seriously about it, let's say that."
"Izzo, 71, has been the head coach at Michigan State since the 1995-96 season and is the all-time winningest coach in the Big Ten conference."
"The Suns are loaded with Michigan State connections. Ott was a graduate assistant for two years before spending five seasons as the video coordinator for the Spartans from 2008-13."
Tom Izzo discussed the Phoenix Suns head coaching position with majority owner Mat Ishbia last summer before the team hired Jordan Ott. Izzo, who recently led Michigan State to the Sweet 16, felt tempted to join Ishbia, a former player on his national championship team. Although he has received multiple NBA job offers, Izzo remains focused on winning another national championship with the Spartans. The Suns have several connections to Michigan State, including their new head coach and general manager.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]