Tom Izzo shares what it means to reach 700 wins at Michigan State

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo celebrated his 69th birthday in style on Tuesday night, knocking off rival Michigan 81-62 to claim his 700th career win.

The head coach said after the game he was humbled, as a lot of his older players showed up.

“There were a lot of former players, a lot of former managers,” Izzo said. “It wasn’t a reunion, they just came back probably for a good game and to support us. Our fans were unbelievable. Nine o’clock game and I think it was packed to the rafters. They helped us too, because we were very average the first half.”

Izzo was workmanlike after the game, even discussing his 700th win. He noted areas that the team could have been better.

“I should be more excited but I’m not, because I have bigger goals than to win a game, even against your rival,” Tom Izzo said. “But it was something we had to do and hopefully we can build on the second half. But consistency is what I think is the key to successful programs, and we have been consistently inconsistent. Hopefully we can learn from some of this.”

While the team’s rebounding and defense were a letdown for Izzo in certain parts of the Michigan game, he was still able to reflect after the fact on what so many means wins to him.

He laughed that he’s got work to do to catch some of his peers.

“I think one thing that I realized is I started too late or somebody else won a lot more games, because I’m 502 behind (Mike) Krzyzewski, so one of the two things, you know,” Tom Izzo said. “I don’t think he’s worried about me catching him.

“But I did feel good for, I look back at my career, what I was going to do in my career, when I was going to quit, if I was going to go to the NBA. So many coaches have changed and I’ve just kind of hung in there and that’s what happens when you hang in there. I mean 700 wins is pretty impressive even to me. Seven hundred wins at the same school, that means a lot to me. That’s probably what means the most to me.”

Izzo has won a lot of games at Michigan State indeed. But he had a promise for the Spartans fans, too. He intends to be around a while longer.

“If you won a few here and a few there and a few here and a few there and then a lot at one place… but we, the players, the assistant coaches I’ve had, we’ve won all of ours right here at Michigan State,” Tom Izzo said. “And I am really, really honored, proud and feel good. And like I said, we’re not dead yet. We’ve got some more wins. We’ve got some more years to go. Just going to keep fighting the fight.”