Tim Bograkos Special to Detroit Free Press Tim Bograkos is a former Michigan State basketball player, who played for coach Tom Izzo from 2000-2005, including the Final Four run in '05. He's now the executive director at The First Tee of Mid-Michigan. He wrote this column for the Free Press, following Izzo's viral outburst at MSU player Aaron Henry on Thursday: The country has seen the interaction between Tom Izzo and Aaron Henry during Thursday's first-round NCAA tournament game. When I first saw it, my initial reaction was laughter. That’s a pretty normal day at a Michigan State basketball practice, film session, weight room workout, flight, hotel walk through, etc. You name it and I’ve seen that exact thing happen in multiple places. Not to mention I’ve seen it happen between teammates more often than between coaches and players. [ Get ready for March Madness with our free Best of the Big Ten newsletter! Subscribe here. ] Whenever I’m talking with people about my experience playing basketball at Michigan State, one question is far and away the most frequently asked. They don’t ask about the Final Four trips, they don’t ask about my teammates, they don’t ask about individual games. They all want to know what it’s like to play for Izzo. I’ve gotten that one question more times than I can remember and for every time that I’ve been asked about playing for my Hall of Fame coach, I’ve given one answer: It was the hardest five years I have ever had, mentally and physically. There were times I was in tears in his office. There were times I dreaded going into a film session because I knew what was coming and there were times when I leaned on my teammates to just help me get through. It’s hard. Period. But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t change it for anything. Watching the interaction between Aaron Henry and Coach Izzo took me back to my playing days. I remember a game against UCLA in Pauley Pavilion, when I went to make a pass and the ball was tipped out of bounds. Even though it was still our ball, I looked over at Izzo and asked what play he wanted. He responded with a well-timed four-letter word. I countered his four-letter word with one of my own and we went on from there. Another time on a trip to Alaska, there was an entire meeting dedicated to making sure I understood how bad I was playing. It sucked. [ Windsor: Izzo's coaching style isn't for everyone. But it's for MSU ] But here’s the flip side to the whole thing. On those same trips, Coach Izzo pulled me aside on a flight to let me know why he was being so hard on me. Coach Izzo pulled my dad aside in the airport to explain why he was on me like that. Coach Izzo would call my mom at work just to get a parent's perspective of his coaching. Tom Izzo made a promise to my family and me that he would push me to be a better basketball player and more importantly, a better man. While everyone sees an angry coach in the face of his players, I see a coach who helped shape me into a man. I see someone who wouldn’t sacrifice his standards and forced me to raise mine. Playing for Coach Izzo isn’t always easy, and it might not be for everyone, but I’m sure glad I did. More Michigan State: Tom Izzo on Aaron Henry: Ridiculous the way it blew up Michigan State coach Tom Izzo's former players come to his defense amid criticism Tom Izzo's outburst nothing new. It's who he is, and that ain't all bad<doc-sep>Scott Van Pelt has gone viral for some comments defending Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo. Izzo tore into Aaron Henry during their first NCAA tournament game against Bradley, and he refused to apologize for his treatment of the freshman. (RELATED: Tom Izzo Goes Ballistic On Aaron Henry, Refuses To Apologize) You can watch the intense moment below. Tom Izzo salary: $4,359,979 Aaron Henry salary: oh um nvmpic.twitter.com/Eo4AFLKoWV — The Rush (@therushyahoo) March 21, 2019 Obviously, some people (not me) thought Izzo took it too far. Van Pelt wasn’t having it. He absolutely shredded Izzo’s critics in an awesome recent rant on ESPN. (RELATED: The March Madness Bracket Has Been Released) He specifically called out the people who don’t “really want context,” but just “want to be mad.” Watch the incredible segment below, which has since blown up on Twitter. One Big Thing pic.twitter.com/2t9Y9u2JjD — Stanford Steve (@StanfordSteve82) March 23, 2019 I agree with pretty much every single word spoken by the ESPN host. This is major college basketball we’re talking about here. It’s going to be tough. It’s not always pretty. That’s just the fact of the matter. Izzo wasn’t pleased with his guy, and he let him have it. That’s called coaching and holding people to a standard of excellence. If we’re not going to do that, then why are we even playing the game? This is March Madness. Everything is on the line. Izzo should lose his mind if his players aren’t giving their all. Good for Izzo for refusing to apologize, and props to Van Pelt for calling out the ridiculous critics. I couldn’t agree more with either of them. Follow David Hookstead on Twitter<doc-sep>
Legendary basketball coach Tom Izzo got a bit heated during Michigan State’s first-round win in the NCAA Tournament. Izzo’s Spartans defeated Bradley 76-65, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing against the underdog Braves. Early in the second half, the Hall of Fame coach lost it while speaking to freshman forward Aaron Henry after a defensive lapse by the young player. Video from the game shows Izzo storming onto the court during a timeout and shouting at Henry. Other coaches and guard Cassius Winston quickly stepped in to separate the two, before the chewing out continued in the team huddle. WOFFORD'S FLETCHER MAGEE SETS 3-POINTER MARK AS TERRIERS TOP SETON HALL While sitting in a circle with his team, Izzo made a “little lunge” toward Henry before other players again helped calm him down. On commentary, former NBA star-turned-broadcaster Reggie Miller described Henry as looking “a little perplexed” by the situation before footage of the huddle was shown and adding: “You see the little lunge there by Izzo, and you see the players getting between. Emotions are high.” Speaking after the game, Izzo explained he was upset with Henry for not getting back on defense. “I did get after him. He did respond. He did make a couple of big buckets. He did make some big free throws, but that's not good enough. It's one-and-done time. The 'my-bads' are out the window,” he told ESPN. OPINION: MARCH MADNESS IS HERE, AND IT'S TIME FOR GAMBLERS TO START PAYING TAXES ON THEIR WINNINGS Henry also seemed unphased by the tongue-lashing after the game, saying he understood where his coach was coming from. “Just responding to it is accepting the coaching and not having a pity-party for yourself and just being a basketball player and go respond,” he told the Detroit Free Press. “It’s been a minute since he chewed me out, because I haven’t played this bad in a while. It’s once every blue moon, I feel like. So I have to be better Saturday.” Others also defended Izzo, including ESPN college basketball expert Seth Greenberg. “If you have ever been around Tom Izzo and his players you would understand the special relationship he has with them. You would understand that they appreciate him, his passion and him holding them accountable,” Greenberg tweeted, Michigan State plays Minnesota in the second-round of the tournament on Saturday.