One of the best parts of every draft night is seeing players react to hearing their names called and who they end up celebrating the life-changing news with. For Jase Richardson, he made sure to celebrate with his family and his head coach, Tom Izzo.
While Izzo is no longer his head coach, he'll always be a second father figure and someone who will always be there for him when he needs some advice in the NBA.
We've seen plenty of Spartans over the years credit Izzo for making them the player their are today like Draymond Green, Miles Bridges, Jaren Jackson Jr., Xavier Tillman, and even Max Christie.
Now Jase can be added to that list.
The Hall of Fame head coach was invited to Jase's watch party with his closest family and friends on Wednesday night and while they had to wait a little longer than expected to hear his name called, the eruption of happiness when it finally did happen was electric.
After hugging his mom, dad, and brother, Richardson turned his attention to his head coach who helped him reach his goals and exceed year one expectations. The two shared an emotional moment.
For life 💚 pic.twitter.com/b0uURiK470
— Michigan State Men's Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) June 26, 2025
It's clear that Izzo cares more about his players than he does himself and it's moments like these that make him want to keep coaching. He just helped the son of one of his former players reach his lifelong goal of playing in the NBA and he only needed a year to do it.
Jase Richardson is one of the best storylines in this year's NBA Draft and his relationship with Izzo is still stronger than ever.
Expect to see Izzo at plenty of Orlando Magic games next year.