Michigan State’s legendary coach Tom Izzo has made his stance on the transfer portal quite clear. Yes, Izzo believes players should get paid. Yes, Izzo supports pursuing places they think will present better opportunities for them.
But as he expressed back in April, Izzo does not condone tampering.
“Biggest concern is that these guys have had people in their ear all year long,” Izzo said. “Why don’t I enjoy the transfer portal? Why did I speak right before the NCAA Tournament? Is because I laughed when they said the portal was opening. I told you the portal was open 24/7, 365 days a year. There’s dates that somebody puts a rule out there that usually doesn’t get listened to anyway.”
” … It’s the only thing that I completely object to, that doesn’t happen in, I don’t think, in pro sports, this constant meddling with our players throughout the year by whoever. I don’t know, I can’t put my finger on it, I just know it’s happening.”
Recently, a fellow Hall-of-Fame coach also spoke on the issue. Arkansas coach John Calipari, whom Izzo and the Spartans will welcome to East Lansing next season, wants that issue to be eliminated, just as Izzo does.
“[R]ight now, you’ve got the quarterback from Vanderbilt … that’s tampering,” Calipari said when he joined “The Pac McAfee Show” on Thursday. “Put your name in the portal, $4.5 million. We have to get away from that more than the NIL.”
What Calipari was referencing was Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who recently confessed on the podcast, “Bussin’ With The Boys,” that he had been offered $4.5 million if he entered the portal.
Izzo had spoken on the player perspective when he addressed the topic that day in April.
“I also know, know, positively know, that people are talking to people all year long,” Izzo said. “If that happens on my staff, people will be gone. But it’s not only staffs, it’s the fact that we’ve opened it up to what we call NIL agents (air quotes), which are noncertified. Some are good, and some are not good.
“But when you’re trying to play in a season and people are in your ear … it’s very difficult.”
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