Tom Izzo crushes Louisville, NCAA for allowing G Leaguers to play college basketball: 'It's embarrassing.'

Louisville wasn’t the first, but Pat Kelsey and the Cardinals made the loudest move yet in the recent trend of schools adding former G League players to their respective programs to play college basketball. London Johnson, a former four-star recruit who once had a final six list of Alabama, Clemson, Virginia, North Carolina, USC and Georgia before signing a two-year deal with the G-League Ignite out of high school, will be suiting up in the red and black at the KFC Yum! Center.

This comes after he spent two seasons with Ignite, coached by none other than Kentucky assistant Jason Hart, followed by a third season suiting up for the Cleveland Charge and Maine Celtics in the G League. Now, three years removed from high school at 21 years old, he’s going back to school as a Cardinal. He’ll enroll mid-year and sit out the rest of the season before taking the floor in 2026-27.

Before that, another G Leaguer, Thierry Darlan, announced his commitment to Santa Clara. He played two seasons of professional basketball. It’s the next step of the ever-changing landscape of college basketball, that line separating the pros from the student-athletes quickly fading, if not gone already.

Tom Izzo‘s thoughts? Well, the Hall of Fame coach at Michigan State, set to take on Kentucky in the Champions Classic on November 18, is not happy about it. In fact, he’s pretty pissed at both Louisville for taking part and the NCAA for allowing such a thing.

“I’m going to get myself in trouble, but I listen to people talk about how kids have changed. Kids aren’t the problem. We’re the problem,” Izzo said to open a four-minute rant on the matter. “This was sprung on us again yesterday where a guy can be in the G-League for two or three years and then all of a sudden he’s eligible. Most of my people knew nothing about it. I don’t think our commissioner knew.

“I mean, I am not real excited about the NCAA or whoever’s making these decisions without talking to us, just letting it go because they’re afraid they’re going to get sued.”

Izzo used Louisville’s latest commitment to say he’s going to round up all of the best Michigan State players with remaining eligibility and get them to suit up again in East Lansing. Magic Johnson? You may be 66 years old, but you’re forever a Spartan — get your sneakers and lace ’em up.

And that goes for everyone else, too, including the guys currently playing in the NBA.

“This really bothers your coach if you’re a Michigan State fan, but if you want a silver lining in the cloud, I am going to call Magic tonight,” he said. “I’m going to call Jaren Jackson, Miles (Bridges), Gary (Harris), Max (Christie), you know? This just goes to show you how ridiculous people that are in power make decisions.”

His biggest gripe? The younger kids missing on opportunities because old players want a do-over in college. Three years of professional basketball, then back to school. Now, the incoming freshmen lose their spots.

“I’m going to get killed because someone’s going to say, ‘Well, if they go pro and it doesn’t work out, shouldn’t they be able to come back?’ Well, what about the freshmen you recruited there?” Izzo said. “That’s somebody’s son and he thinks he’s got himself a good place. All of a sudden, Shazam, they pull out of their hat and bring a 21- or 22-year-old in. To me, it’s ridiculous. To me, it’s embarrassing.”

He loves coaching, but he doesn’t love what the game has become and the people making these decisions. It’s not the kids’ fault, it’s the adults in the room calling these shots with no consistency and changing the rules because they’re afraid of lawsuits to come.

In Izzo’s mind, they need to stand up for themselves and fight this. If not, they’ve lost his respect.

“I love my job. I don’t respect my profession and I don’t respect whoever is doing that. Whoever made those decisions,” he said. “They’re afraid that a lawyer is going to sue them. Sooner or later, you got to fight the fight. If we would have been aware of it, if somebody were to talk to us — maybe it’s me? Maybe I’m the dummy, but I’ll never agree to that stuff. I think we’re really hurting the freshmen in high school. The seniors in high school, giving them a chance.

“What’s the age limit now? Is it 30? If you have three beards and two mustaches, are you illegal? You’re not allowed to play? I mean, what is it going to be?”

The transfer portal has been an obvious adjustment with free agency coming to college sports, and for him, that’s plenty. We don’t need to add more variables with unintended consequences people aren’t thinking about now.

“You hit a sore spot for me because the transfer portal is enough. We have no rules. Now we just take no rules and add some more no rules. If everybody likes that, that’s good. I feel bad if a kid came out early. Maybe we shouldn’t come out early? Maybe we should do a better job of helping kids make decisions? … The unintended consequences are the kids that are there will now get screwed and not have an opportunity. And then they’ll be transferring and then we’ll have this circle.”

He says no one at Michigan State knew this was coming, nor did his peers in the league. If he or they didn’t know, “shame on me,” Izzo says. One way or another, though, he feels the NCAA has to step in and do something about it.

“The NCAA has got to regroup. They got to regroup. That’s my opinion, only my opinions. Don’t be mad at anybody else. Be mad at us, but I’m not gonna be mad at the players. I’m gonna be mad at the adults in the room. Don’t blame the players anymore, blame the adults that make the decisions that allow some of these ridiculous things to happen. And then the unintended consequences hurt kids that are trying to do it the right way with a process, not jumping around.

“That’s my two cents. So put that wherever you want it.”

"To me, it's ridiculous. To me, it's embarrassing."

Tom Izzo's thoughts on Louisville signing a player with multiple years of G League experience.

Question via @chrissolari @wilxTV https://t.co/0ywBGQKouE pic.twitter.com/rLIOpeCjdF

— Ben Shockley (@BenShockley_) October 22, 2025

Consider it done, Tom. Kentucky Sports Radio dot com always welcomes complaints about Louisville.

My only question for Izzo is how is this any different than international players suiting up for professional teams, then coming to the United States for college basketball opportunities? That’s been going on for years, the NCAA only recently loosening its rules on compensation to maintain eligibility. Michigan State will be taking on an Illinois team in February loaded with overseas talent, arguably the most of any program in the country. Andrija Jelavic will be taking the floor against him when the Spartans take on Kentucky in the Champions Classic, and the list goes on and on.

It’s an interesting line in the sand to draw, but hey, Ls Down. You won’t see me defending the Cards.