Tom Izzo has long praised the culture at Michigan State. He’s never shied away from saying that he believes he has the best culture of any program in the country, and it’s hard to argue.
Whenever Izzo has a big game at home or a special event involving former players in East Lansing, he hears from fellow coaches about how jealous they are that he has such a great culture. Other programs don’t quite have the same family atmosphere as Michigan State, but in East Lansing, it feels like everyone loves and supports one another, and former players feel at home.
How many other programs have former players coming back in droves to visit their old head coach years after they graduated and moved on to bigger and better things? Hint: not many.
Izzo has spent about 30 years building up this culture at Michigan State, and it’s a big reason why the basketball program has been so successful. He builds great relationships, and that’s why former players always come back. It’s also why former coaches always seem to hang around and make their way back to the coaching staff.
People want to be part of the Michigan State basketball culture.
On Monday, Michigan State released its second episode of ’The Cut’ which is a behind-the-scenes look at the basketball program this season. In this episode, Izzo talked about that culture in East Lansing, and he gave some fantastic quotes that fans are going to absolutely love.
One quote stands out, though: “I think we have the best family, culture situation in college basketball.”
“I think we have the best family, culture situation in college basketball.”
— Michigan State Men's Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) November 25, 2025
Episode Two of The Cut, streaming now: https://t.co/JObYIOmip6 pic.twitter.com/Z9DHnNzEIT
Izzo doesn’t say things just to say them, he actually believes this to be true. And if you ran a poll of all college basketball coaches, I would be willing to bet that most would vote Michigan State as the best culture in the country.
Why does Michigan State have a great culture? Izzo said it himself: he’s surrounded himself with great people that he can trust. From the student managers to the video guys to the players, Izzo makes sure everyone is an ‘OKG’ — our kind of guy.
As long as Izzo is in East Lansing, the program’s culture is going to be the best in the country.