Tom Izzo was absolutely flabbergasted by the stepback 3-point attempt his son, Steven Izzo, threw up on Wednesday.
Michigan State hoops officially kicked off its 2023-24 season on Wednesday night with an exhibition game against Hillsdale College. The Spartans had no problem, dominating 85-43 and the walk-ons got a chance to play late in the second half, including Steven Izzo, the fan-favorite son of Tom Izzo.
Whenever Steven plays, the crowd goes bananas, and rightfully so.
Michigan State fans love seeing Steven Izzo trying to put points on the board. On Wednesday, he hit a couple of free throws to send the Izzone into a frenzy but he almost tore the roof off the Breslin Center with a stepback 3-pointer.
Unfortunately, by “almost” I actually mean he was about three feet short. With just under two minutes left and sitting pretty with an 83-37 lead, Izzo caught the ball in the corner, took a dribble to his left, stepped back while a defender was in his face, and threw up a prayer. It wasn’t answered.
The reaction by Tom Izzo after this wild 3-point attempt was priceless.
If this was a regular-season game and not an exhibition, Steven may have gotten the chew-out of the century. Sure, he’s only playing when the game is in hand, but you know Tom doesn’t want his son developing bad habits to appease the crowd.
But since this was an exhibition, we didn’t see Izzo get red and rip into his son, rather he had a look of disbelief. His face was everyone’s face after throwing up an airball on a 3-point attempt that had zero chance of going in.
This was easily one of the best moments from the exhibition opener.
Let’s hope we see more of Steven Izzo this season because that will mean that games are well in hand and maybe we’ll actually see him hit one of these wild jumpers and put a smile on his dad’s face.
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