Tom Izzo tells funny story from his playing days against Minnesota

Originally posted on Spartan Shadows | By Daily MSU | Last updated 2/6/24

Tom Izzo shared a funny story about his Northern Michigan playing days when he played on Minnesota’s elevated court.

Michigan State hits the road for a mid-week game as the Spartans take on the Minnesota Gophers in Minneapolis. During a press conference on Monday, Tom Izzo talked a lot about their win over the weekend against Maryland and getting ready for their rematch against the Gophers.

One thing that always seems to come up when MSU travels to Minnesota is the Gophers interesting court. Minnesota is one of the few schools in the country that plays on a raised floor. If you didn’t know that, pay attention to the bench during the game and you’ll notice the players actually sit below the court.

During Izzo’s press conference, he shared a funny moment that happened to him back in his playing days with Northern Michigan on this court.

Tom Izzo shares funny story at Minnesota

Izzo talked about playing against Minnesota while he was at Northern Michigan. Asked him how the elevated floor was for a player, said he took a charge from one of the Gophers' guards and slid off the court.

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) February 5, 2024

Before Izzo became the legendary coach that we all know and love, he played college basketball in Michigan’s upper peninsula at Northern Michigan which is a Division 2 school, so Izzo didn’t get many chances to play against Big Ten teams. He did, however, get to play at Minnesota in an exhibition.

During this game, Izzo took a charge against a Gopher player and slid right off the court. Now I don’t know about you, but to me, this is the most classic Tom Izzo story of all time. Izzo always preaches defense and toughness, and those two things are a staple of his MSU basketball program. So of course he’d be the player to take a charge and fall off the Gophers’ elevated court.

Now for MSU’s players’ sake, I hope this doesn’t happen. That sounds like a nasty injury waiting to happen.

This article first appeared on Spartan Shadows and was syndicated with permission.

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