Tom Izzo has been named of the 100 most influential people in college basketball by Silver Waves Media.
The list is comprised of college coaches, conference commissioners, and other people impacting the college basketball world. According to Silver Waves, to be considered for the list a candidate must either win at a high level, produce top-flight talent, effect movement int he college coaching carousel, or have his or her fingerprints all over the sport.
It’s fair to say that Izzo qualifies for any one of those categories. While the listing is ranked alphabetically instead of numerically, it’s safe to assume Izzo is going to find himself near the top of any type of list measuring influence in college hoops.
Of Izzo Silver Waves, writes, ” You can never count the Spartans out under Tom Izzo. The Naismith Hall of Famer has a winning clip of .706 in the month of March, which ranks fourth among all active coaches with at least ten tournament games coached. His 52 NCAA Tournament wins are the most ever for a Big Ten coach, and rank sixth all-time. The winningest coach in Michigan State history has led his Spartans to seven Final Four appearances between 1999 and 2015, making the program just one of four to ever accomplish such a feat in a 17-year span. His seven Final Four appearances rank fifth all-time, third among active coaches and first all-time among Big Ten coaches. He has always been atop the Big Ten with his teams too. His .696 winning percentage in Big Ten games ranks third all-time among league coaches with at least 10 years of service. With 288 conference victories, Izzo ranks second all-time, trailing just Indiana’s Bob Knight (353 wins), while also ranking second for most wins at a Big Ten institution (606), trailing just Knight (662). The legendary success has kept multiple eyes of decision makers on the program. Former assistants Jim Boylen, Tom Crean, Tim Buckley, Darrin Horn, Tod Kowalczyk, Buzz Williams, Brian Gregory, Stan Heath, Stan Joplin, Doug Wojcik, Mark Montgomery have all been picked by athletic directors at some point during their career to be a head coach and make up his coaching tree. Additionally, 20 Michigan State players like Jaren Jackson, Miles Bridges, Gary Harris, and Zach Randolph have all been selected by NBA general managers.”
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