Michigan State basketball head coach Tom Izzo said he “talked seriously” to Suns majority owner Mat Ishbia about the Phoenix head coaching job last summer before the team finally hired Jordan Ott.
Izzo, who just coached the Spartans to the Sweet 16 before losing to UConn, said he was tempted to join Ishbia in Phoenix. Ishbia was a walk-on at Michigan State on Izzo's 2000 national championship team.
“I was much younger but I have [had] “More than a couple of job offers in the NBA and I looked at one last year with Phoenix,” Izzo said while appearing on “The Dan Patrick Show.”
“My former player, Mat Ishbia, was difficult. It was difficult to turn him down because… I wanted to go with him.”
When asked if the Suns offered him the head coaching job, Izzo said, “We were serious about it, let's just say that.”
Izzo, 71, has been Michigan State's head coach since the 1995-96 season and is the winningest coach of all time in the Big Ten conference. The Hall of Famer has led the Spartans to 28 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including eight Final Four appearances.
Izzo considered NBA head coaching jobs in the past with the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers. However, he has said he remains intensely motivated to win his second national championship.
The Suns are loaded with connections to the state of Michigan. Ott was a graduate assistant for two years before spending five seasons as the Spartans' video coordinator from 2008 to 2013. Suns general manager Brian Gregory was a longtime assistant coach at Michigan State. The Suns also brought in former Michigan State star Mateen Cleaves as a player development coach last summer.
