Dwayne Stephens and Dane Fife ranked in the top five of the conference’s assistant according to their peers.
Great coaching in the Michigan State men’s basketball program goes beyond Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo.
Two of Izzo’s assistants, Dwayne Stephenes and Dane Fife, have been named the best and third-best assistant men’s basketball coach in the Big Ten in a list compiled by Stadium.
College basketball insider Jeff Goodman polled 20 coaches in the conference to get their opinions on the top assistants and compiled the list from there. Stephens was the top vote getter as Izzo’s right-hand man.
“DJ has the unique ability to fit in with everyone. He has great people skills, but in all honesty, he is underappreciated as a ‘basketball mind.’ He is very good being my right-hand man on the bench in game situations. Will be an excellent head coach someday soon,” said. Izzo
One unnamed Big Ten assistant also noted Stephens’ involvement during games in a quote to Goodman, saying, “Dwayne has been a staple with the Michigan State basketball program for a long time as he has done an outstanding job recruiting, and is constantly in Coach Izzo’s ear during in-game play.”
Stephens has been an assistant at MSU since 2003 and has spent the last eight years as associate head coach.
As for Fife, he wasn’t far down the list, coming in at number three. Unsurprisingly Izzo had some nice things to say about Fife as well.
“Dane is a guy I’ve known since he was in high school and I was excited when we had the chance to bring him here, and that hasn’t changed in nearly 10 years. He’s a terrific coach, a great recruiter and knows the game. He has had a great impact on our success and I appreciate the commitment he’s made,” Izzo told Goodman.
Fife’s defensive mind and experience were mentioned by an opposing Big Ten assistant as reasons why he ranks so high.
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