Floyd helped keep Izzo at Michigan State
MINNEAPOLIS – Tim Floyd had never met Tom Izzo before, but Izzo was on the other end when Floyd’s cell phone rang in April 2000.
Izzo, fresh off a national title at Michigan State, was mulling an offer from the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. He knew Floyd had recently departed the college game for a gig with the Chicago Bulls, so he called to see if Floyd had any advice for him.
“Stay put” were the two words Floyd remembers telling Izzo.
“He said, ‘Tom, I am a bad guy to talk to,’ ” Izzo recalled. “I said, ‘Why?’ And he said, ‘I just went 50-65’ or something.”
Floyd was trying to win in a Bulls organization that had just lost all of its great players. He soon realized that the college game was his home, and now he has the Southern California Trojans playing their best ball heading into Sunday’s second-round matchup with Izzo and the Spartans.
“I mean, it’s the best job I’ve ever had,” Floyd said. “We’re in an area with 18 million people, at a highly ranked, $55,000-a-year private school. … There are a lot of basketball players in Southern California and now a brand-new $147 million facility. It is the most expensive college facility in the country.
“The school has made a commitment to basketball. And that makes a coach’s life easy. [My] timing is certainly better than when I went to the Bulls.”
Izzo was asked, as he often is this time of year, if he’d ever consider a gig in the pros.
“The word ‘never’ never approaches me,” Izzo said. “But at the same time, there’s some goals I still have in college. Some big-time goals.”
Specifically, another national title, giving him two and Michigan State three.
“If that was accomplished, who knows what I’d do,” Izzo said. “But that’s where all my thoughts are for the years ahead until I reach that goal.” – Joe Rexrode
Clean slate for Kansas
MINNEAPOLIS – “Defending national champion Kansas” may be the technical way to describe Bill Self’s team, but the Jayhawks don’t look at it that way, considering Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich are the only contributors left from that team.
That’s what makes the job Self has done so striking as his team prepares for Sunday’s second-round game with Dayton.
“These guys don’t feel like they are defending the national championship,” Self said. “We never talked about it with our guys because there’s really only one guy [Collins] that played ample minutes that really played a big part in us winning it last year. Cole would be the second, and he averaged 2.8 points a game.
“These are all new guys. We’re not trying to defend anything. We’re trying to go take what we want as opposed to defending.” – Joe Rexrode
Pitino: Mullens should stay
DAYTON, Ohio – Ohio State freshman B.J. Mullens hasn’t said whether he will leave for the NBA draft after one season, but Louisville coach Rick Pitino has advice for him: Don’t do it.
Pitino said he heard Friday night Mullens planned to go pro, though there has not been any other statement on that yet. It would not be a surprise if he left given the wave of one-and-dones since the NBA required draftees to be a year out of high school.
“That would be the worst move the young man could ever make,” Pitino said. “He’s going to be a terrific pro, but sitting on an NBA bench during the course of the season – if you’re an NBA coach, you’re not worried about that 10th, 11th, 12th man in developing him, you’re worried about winning and surviving as a coach.”
Mullens was the No. 1 prospect in the class of 2008, but he did not have near the impact of Kansas State’s Michael Beasley or Ohio State’s Greg Oden, the last two top prospects who spent only a year in college. The 7-foot center Mullens has started only two games this season. He has been a quality contributor off the bench, but he also looked at times like he needed more seasoning.
Pitino also said he thought former Syracuse forward Donte Greene would have been better served by staying with the Orange for another year. The Louisville coach cited the development of Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin as someone who used a second year of college to his benefit. Griffin is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft if he leaves school early.
“Last year we stopped Blake Griffin [in the tournament],” Pitino said. “I don’t think we could stop him like we did last year. He’s improved so much. … A Blake Griffin went the right way and [Connecticut’s] Hasheem Thabeet went the right way.” – David Fox
Heathcote cheering on Michigan State
MINNEAPOLIS – Jud Heathcote is a fixture at Michigan State’s NCAA tournament games. The 81-year-old former coach, who won the 1979 national title with Earvin “Magic” Johnson and spent 19 years at the school, is always there to support prized protégé Izzo.
This weekend, Heathcote has the extra bonus of watching another of his pupils, Dayton coach Brian Gregory. Heathcote sat with Gregory’s family during the Flyers’ 68-60 upset win over West Virginia on Friday.
It was a sentimental moment for Gregory. Not that Heathcote is often given to sentiment.
“Jud said he won’t come back if we have another boring game,” said Gregory’s wife, Yvette.
It’s been a tough year for Heathcote, who was weakened for a few months after open-heart surgeries last April and June. He is feeling better now and back to his wise-cracking self.
Heathcote doesn’t get to see much of Dayton, but he did watch their 57-49 loss at St. Louis on TV in late February.
“It set basketball back about a decade,” he said.
In a rare moment of serious reflection, Heathcote said he does have tremendous pride in the achievements of four men who were all grad assistants for him at Michigan State: Izzo, Gregory, Utah coach Jim Boylen and Indiana coach Tom Crean.
“That’s pretty good,” he said.
And how much of a hand did he have in their success?
“Probably zero.” – Joe Rexrode
Tall matchup on tap
MINNEAPOLIS – A matchup to watch in the Michigan State-Southern California game is 6-7, 220-pound USC freshman DeMar DeRozan vs. 6-8, 225-pound Michigan State junior Raymar Morgan.
DeRozan is an extremely gifted athlete.
“In a game that features exceptional athleticism, he is over the top,” Floyd said. “I don’t know that I’ve ever coached a greater athlete. And sometimes that statement means that a guy is just an athlete, but he’s not. He is a skilled basketball player who has got a mid-range game. … I have no doubt he will be an elite player at the next level, at some point in his life whenever that occurs.”
Morgan, meanwhile, is a strong forward with mid-range skills, quickness and the ability to score around the basket. He said he is excited to test himself against a player of DeRozan’s stature.
“He is a great player, a talented freshman, very athletic, can do a lot of things on the floor,” Morgan said. “Hopefully I can just overpower him and bring some of his weaknesses out.” – Joe Rexrode
Big East’s best vs. Big East’s never-was
DAYTON, Ohio – It’s nothing personal against Louisville, but Siena would like nothing better than to prove the best of the Big East wrong.
The Big East paid scant attention to Siena’s current roster. Siena’s top player, Kenny Hasbrouck, received marginal attention from the league, but it was only token interest for the guard from Capital Heights, Md. Hasbrouck was interested in Georgetown, but the Hoyas offered only a half scholarship. (“I didn’t think they gave half scholarships,” Siena coach Fran McCaffery said.)
At 6 feet, 160 pounds, Ronald Moore isn’t the prototypical physical guard who excels in the Big East either.
“Apparently these Big East schools like guys with muscle,” said Siena center Ryan Rossiter, who at 6-9 weighs in at 227 pounds. “I don’t know what they’re thinking.” – David Fox
Not surprised by Siena
DAYTON, Ohio – Siena didn’t always look like a team that would win a first-round game over Ohio State in front of a partisan crowd.
The Saints made only 9 of 33 shots at the end of the first half and shot only 33.3 percent for the game Friday. Two of its stars, Hasbrouck and Moore, were largely silent until the end of regulation.
Louisville guard Preston Knowles wasn’t surprised Siena managed to pull out the 74-72 double-overtime win.
“They were the more aggressive team on defense,” Knowles said. “When you play in the NCAA tournament that’s what’s going to win championships, is defense. Anybody can miss shots, you’re not going to be there offensively every single game. You have to rely on defense pressure to win ball games. That’s what they did down the stretch.” – David Fox
