EAST LANSING – Tom Izzo pulled Coen Carr into a meeting and polled him on a hypothetical situation: How would the Michigan State basketball junior feel if his Hall of Fame coach went out and brought back Miles Bridges to take his position?
Don’t laugh. It’s getting closer to reality in college sports.
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And it’s a question many coaches, including Izzo, are pondering with the Christmas Eve development of Baylor landing a midseason pickup in center James Nnaji and the NCAA giving the former Detroit Pistons draft pick the all-clear to play right away.
“I thought I’d seen the worst. Then Christmas came,” Izzo said after practice Saturday, Dec. 27. “It topped it. It just topped it. What happened just topped it.”
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo talks to guard Jeremy Fears Jr. (1) from the bench during the second half against Oakland at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025.
Izzo said he has a message in to Baylor coach Scott Drew, whom he considers a “good friend” from their time on various committees and Drew’s decade working at Valparaiso alongside his dad, Homer, before moving to Baylor in 2003. The 31st-year MSU coach, whose ninth-ranked Spartans are 11-1 heading into Monday’s home game with Cornell (7 p.m./FS1), is continually concerned about the direction he’s seeing college sports taking.
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“Now we’re taking guys that were drafted in the NBA and everything?” Izzo said. “I said it to you a month and a half ago – c’mon Magic (Johnson) and Gary (Harris), let’s go baby, let’s do it. Why not? I mean, if that’s what we’re going to, shame on the NCAA. Shame on the coaches, too. But shame on the NCAA, because coaches are gonna do what they gotta do, I guess. But the NCAA is the one. Those people on those committees that are making those decisions to allow something so ridiculous and not think of the kid.
“So everybody talks about me thinking of my program or I’m selfish. No. Get that straight, for all of you. I’m thinking of, what is best for my son if he was in that position? And I just don’t agree with it.”
Izzo expressed his disgust in late October over the NCAA’s ruling to allow former G League guard London Johnson to be able to join Louisville with two seasons of eligibility next season despite the 21-year-old having played three years as a pro. Now comes the midseason ruling that 21-year-old Nnjai, the No. 31 pick by Detroit in the 2023 NBA Draft, can join the Bears at midseason and have a full four seasons of eligibility.
Nnjai never played in the NBA or G League but appeared in five NBA Summer League Games for the New York Knicks in July and played professionally overseas last season.
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“I asked Coen, ‘Would you be OK if I went and got Miles and brought him back and I sat you?’ I mean, you laugh, but that’s what we’re doing. Somebody’s sitting, somebody’s not playing,” Izzo said. “I just don’t think that’s fair for the players.”
MORE: Tom Izzo tinkering with Michigan State basketball lineup
Izzo has constantly adapted, albeit sometimes begrudgingly, to rules changes over the years – from graduate transfers getting immediate eligibility to blanket waivers to allow any transfer to play without sitting out a year to all of the changes allowing monetary transactions and compensation. This latest round of rules interpretations on the fly has Izzo, as one of the few legendary voices for coaches remaining and one of the most important nationally, seething and rethinking the future of his profession and his time remaining in it.
“Write this one down: It’s gonna get me,” he said. “I’m just not gonna let it bother me. But it’s gonna get me sooner or later. Sooner or later, it’s gonna get me. Not that I’m too stubborn not to ever do anything. But I’m not going recruiting Miles. I love Miles, I’d love to have him play. I just think – what is wrong with that statement? ‘Go and replace Coen.’”
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo talks to forward Coen Carr (55) at a timeout against Wisconsin during the first half of Big Ten Tournament semifinal at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. on Saturday, March 15, 2025.
The lines between previous generations of what college athletics represented versus what university sports are straddling as professional entities nowadays continue to get blurred. Izzo pointed to the pro leagues having guidelines for contracts and free agency periods and trade deadlines. The NCAA, which refuses to deem athletes as employees for myriad of reasons, is losing its rules and structures through threats of lawsuits and court decisions that Izzo does not feel the governing body is trying to push back against.
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The educational component of college sports continues to erode and dissolve, one of Izzo’s biggest peeves of the situation.
“There is no education,” Izzo said. “The NCAA ruined that.”
Izzo said he received a text message Friday from “a very famous, great coach” that summed up where his feelings are right now with the flurry of rules changes.
“It said, ‘I believe in everything you’re saying. Just don’t let it ruin your year. Why fight city hall?’” Izzo said. “I’m not gonna fight city hall. I’m just not gonna stick up for it, either. I’m not gonna tell you that as a guy that worked for the NCAA on 20 years on every committee known to man. I’m not gonna tell you that this (NCAA President Charlie Baker), to me, is doing anything but running from leadership and is making decisions that are against them. …
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“What we’ve done in the NCAA has been an absolute travesty to me. We’re just worried about getting sued and we’re not gonna fight anybody. And I think leadership means you fight and you make decisions that are sometimes unpopular.”
Izzo said he would love to poll the 361 Division I coaches to see how many favor the fluid eligibility rules, projecting that maybe 5-10% agree with the shifting standards. And he expressed concern that fans are continuing to grow frustrated and tuning out on college sports becoming more and more professionalized without any guidelines.
“If that’s the way it is, and if I have to make those adjustments, then let’s make them. Let’s go pro if that’s the way it is,” he said. “But let’s not be half you-know-what. Because there’s no such thing as being half that.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tom Izzo blasts NCAA over controversial Baylor-NBA draft pick decision
