The mutual respect between Dan Hurley and Tom Izzo is well-documented.
It is largely why UConn and Michigan State agreed to a home-and-home exhibition series back in July. It began in October, with the Huskies winning handily at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, never trailing in the preseason meeting and building a lead of as many as 19 points despite being without two starters in center Tarris Reed Jr. and standout freshman Braylon Mullins.
UConn came out of the matchup looking like a true national championship contender. Michigan State? Not so much.
But an exhibition is an exhibition. And a lot has happened in the last five months.
“I think we’re both different teams, but at least we’ve played them, seen their size, strength, athleticism, some of the things that you can get out of a game like that,” Izzo told reporters in East Lansing on Monday, noting that the preseason game was a chance to see some new players in action and that his rotation looks a bit different now. “Did some good things when we watched the film, we did some bad things, we have some coverages we’re gonna completely change. But they’re a different team, too, because now they’ve got a horse (Reed) they can throw it in to.”
The Spartans rattled off 19 wins in their first 21 games and built a resumé of a potential No. 2 seed before Purdue got hot to win the Big Ten Tournament and jump them on that seed line. The Huskies won 22 of their first 23 games and were positioned to earn a No. 1 seed before slipping up with losses to Creighton and Marquette in the final three weeks of the regular season.
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On Friday, UConn and Michigan State will meet again, this time in the nation’s capital with much higher stakes. The winner of the Sweet 16 contest will go on to face either No. 1 overall seed Duke or No. 5 seed St. John’s on Sunday with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
“I don’t see many negatives,” Izzo said of the Huskies. “Good assistant coaches, great head coach, good players that are veterans and have been through the wars and they survived a tough league. So I’m looking forward to it because it’ll be one of the best challenges we’ve had all year.”
Hurley mentioned after Sunday’s game that Izzo is one of the college coaches he respects and looks up to the most.
“I modeled so much of how I’ve tried to be a coach and a college coach just by watching and trying to learn as much as I can from Coach Izzo,” Hurley said after that October exhibition. “He’s not a cheater, he’s not a fake, he doesn’t have, like, a fake persona with the media. Who you think he is, is exactly who you see on TV. There’s a lot of phonies out there, and he’s not one of them. So I’ve stolen his tactics, I’ve stolen his culture, I’ve stolen the way he leads. He’s one of the best coaches to ever do it.”
Hurley picked the Hall of Famer’s brain and sought guidance after he was offered the head coaching job with the Los Angeles Lakers, and again after his implosion at last year’s Maui Invitational – where he hoped to draw the Spartans.
It was reported by TNT’s Evan Washburn during Sunday’s game that Hurley and Izzo are both part of a group text chain called “old school coaches,” which also includes UCLA head coach Mick Cronin and recently retired Butler coach Thad Matta.
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“Believe it or not, he’s the one guy that I get to talk off the ledge. Some guys have to talk me off the ledge, I get to talk him off the ledge,” Izzo said. “People look at him in a lot of different ways, as they look at all of us in different ways, but there’s not many guys more passionate than Danny. There’s not many more guys that push their guys harder than Danny. There’s not many guys that care about their guys – and I think he got a lot of that from his dad… I think he’s taken a lot of things, and people always think people that are animated or get excited are crazy, but crazy like a fox maybe. Usually he knows what he’s doing. And, I mean, can he go off the deep end, like I can, or a lot of coaches can. You deal with what we have to deal with and see if you go off the deep end once in a while. But he’s sustained greatness so far.”
“He has never lost who he is and what he is. And I don’t like him for that, I love him for that,” Izzo continued. “He wears his emotions on his – he doesn’t even where them on his sleeve, he wears them on his chest. But he also spends a lot of time with his guys and I know what he thinks of his players. He doesn’t over blow them up, but he backs them. And I have great respect for that. Plus the fact that his guys get after it and they’re gonna play hard. I guarantee you, they’re gonna play hard as hell on Friday night.”
Star-studded regional
There are five combined national championships and 18 Final Four appearances between the four head coaches who will battle it out in D.C. this weekend. Izzo and Rick Pitino are both in the Hall of Fame, Hurley is well on his way and Duke’s Jon Scheyer has gotten off to a strong start in just four years as a head coach.
There are 10 players in the East Regional who were projected to be picked in ESPN’s most recent NBA mock draft, which was put out just before March Madness. Duke has five representatives in projected third overall pick Cameron Boozer, as well as Isaiah Evans (No. 25 overall), Patrick Ngongba (26), Dame Sarr (31) and Maliq Brown (59). UConn has four, highlighted by Braylon Mullins, who was projected at No. 13 overall to the Golden State Warriors, along with Alex Karaban (35), Tarris Reed Jr. (52) and Solo Ball (57). St. John’s center Zuby Ejiofor was the projected 39th pick.
Michigan State, while it didn’t have any representatives in that ESPN mock, has a second team AP All-American in point guard Jeremy Fears and perhaps the best college dunker in the country in Coen Carr.
