Michigan State Basketball: Ranking Tom Izzo’s top 10 recruiting classes
Mar 22, 2014; Spokane, WA, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Keith Appling (11), forward Adreian Payne (5), guard Gary Harris (14), guard/forward Branden Dawson (22), and guard Denzel Valentine (45) walk to the court from a timeout in the second half of a men
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Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo has made a pretty solid living coaching the sport of basketball, even drawing some attention as a future Hall of Famer. There’s no doubt that the top players in the nation look at MSU and instantly think “winner” but most of them aren’t willing to put in the time and effort with Izzo to reach their goals.
Izzo sometimes scares off the top recruits because he is a no-nonsense type of coach that doesn’t take “I can’t” for an excuse.
If you’re looking for a coach to get a team to the Final Four year in and year out, Izzo is your guy. In fact, the head coach from Iron Mountain, Mich., has made seven Final Four appearances in his 20 years to go along with a national title in 2000.
As for his recruiting success, the Spartans’ head coach has suffered through some harsh criticism in recent years as fans are quick to jump on him for not going after one-and-dones and having little success snagging the top overall players in the nation after they’ve shown interest for so long in the program and the winning atmosphere.
However, the 2015 recruiting class for Izzo looks like one of the best in his entire career, and it got me to thinking, what are his best recruiting classes as MSU head coach? While it’s too early to judge just how good this one is, I am going to rank Tom’s top 10 recruiting classes since 2000, the year he won the title.
Let me know if you agree, or disagree, with the order in the comments below.
Next: 10. Class of 2009