Coach Tom Izzo is nothing short of a legend at MSU. As head coach of the Spartan mens basketball team for the last 17 years, he is known as one of the basketball coaching greats, if not the best in the NCAA. The winningest coach in Michigan State history, he has led the Spartans to a National Championship title in 2000, six Final Fours and six Big Ten Championships. He has a record of 14 straight NCAA tournament bids and is a four-time National Coach of the Year. Not only is he a great force on the court but he also graduates 81% of his players that complete their eligibility and has had six All-Americans on past teams. Of all of his past players he has produced 12 NBA Draft Picks and of those 12, six were first round picks. Beginning his 17th year leading the Spartan Mens Basketball Program, the boys are off to a 15 game winning streak and a no. 6 AP Poll ranking, Izzo’s third largest since running the team here at State. Izzo not only has been a leader on the court but also in the community of East Lansing and the state of Michigan. He also acts as a mentor for student athletes on and around campus and a hero for MSU students, especially the Izzone, the student section at Spartan basketball games. He even takes it upon himself to pump up the Izzone, by sending emails out such as the one the students received over winter break asking that they “pick up the intensity before yesterdays game against Iowa,” the first game since the spring semester began. There is nothing wrong with expecting greatness and that is just what Izzo expects out of his “sixth man,” the students that make up the Izzone. He states just what he means when he says, “I don’t think students should get their feelings hurt if we push them to be the best.” Expecting a great performance not only from his players on the court but also from his beloved Spartan student and alumni fans. We’ll take the criticism any time you think were not showing up Izzo, we love you just like if you were our own hot headed, foul mouthed, lovable uncle twice removed from the family.
Coach Mark Dantonio, is a relatively newer staple amongst the coaching greats at MSU but is already making waves on the college football front.  Wrapping up his fifth year as head coach of the mens football team here at State with just as much pride and tradition of Spartan football as when he began here. He has led our football program to a Michigan State school-record five consecutive bowl game appearances and back-to-back 10 win seasons for the first time in program history. The Spartan mens team has won 24 Big Ten games in the past four seasons under Dantonio’s reign. After four losses in the first four bowl games Dantonio coached the Spartans in, he finally got a much deserved win in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida on Monday, Jan. 2nd. The Spartan mens football team with the help of Dantonio and his coaching staff defeated the Georgia Bulldogs to a score of 33-30 after three “nail biter” OT’s. This win over the Bulldogs ended a decade-long bowl game drought for the MSU footballers. Dantonio, and quarterback leader, Kirk Cousins, helped bring a legacy back to our football program that had been missing in previous years. They made believers out of even some of the most skeptical fans yet. After not making it to a much deserved BCS bowl and disrupting the harmony of the Spartan Nation for… only a few minutes or so.. our roar has been restored after being only one of two Big Ten schools to win a post-season bowl game bringing us to a No. 11 ranked team going into the fall 2012 season. Important editors note: That makes us one spot higher than our “little bro.”
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Becoming Friends and College Coaching Greats:
This brings us to the heavy hitting power team: Izzo and Dantonio. They have become fast friends since Dantonio was brought into the athletic department by AD Mark Hollis just five short years ago. Dantonio was at the roundtable when Izzo made his decision to stay as MSU’s basketball coach and not pursue the NBA coaching position in Cleveland just a year and a half ago. Similarly, Izzo showed his undying support to his friend, showing up at his side when Dantonio buried his father, Justin Dantonio, last August. Â
Bleacher Report, the 4th largest sports media site with over 20 million monthly readers, ranked Izzo and Dantonio the number one Basketball/Football Coaching Duo in America. With Izzo being one of the best basketball coaches in the country for the last 17 years and Dantonio being one of the top up-and-coming coaches in college football today, this number one status should be of shock to no one. Taken straight from Bleacher Reports Featured Columnist, Sean Merriman’s, article, “It simply doesn’t get any better than this duo right here,” and that, right there, says it all.