Izzo Praises 2025 MSU Team: ‘Most Unbelievable Year I’ve Had’ Michigan State coach Tom Izzo gave a powerful opening statement following its 70-64 loss to No. 1 Auburn in Sunday’s Elite Eight matchup. He could not be prouder of a team in his 30-year career at the helm of the program.
The No.2 Michigan State Spartans (30-7) suffered a season-ending loss to the No. 1 overall seed Auburn Tigers (32-5) in Sunday night’s Elite Eight matchup in Atlanta. Following the loss, Spartans coach Tom Izzo took the podium, where he gave a powerful opening statement, praising this team for their efforts.
As Izzo sniffled through his statement with three of his players beside him, there was a presence from all four individuals that this team meant the world to each of them. This program could not have asked for a more unified and resilient group as Izzo acknowledged in his comments.
“Well for the 30th year, I’m not sure I’ve ever been prouder in a team and there’s so much coach-speak and things that go on in programs all over, but these guys gave me everything they had,” Izzo said.
“Drained them of everything, [they] should take a week off, there’s nothing left in them. And that’s kind of the way it was in the locker room. It was a tear-jerking locker room because they knew they spilled it all.
“Yet, we thought we started out poorly which we’ve had that little bit of a problem lately and we just couldn’t recover from that 17-0 run. Wasn’t through lack of effort, it wasn’t through lack of anything, except we played a good team.”
Izzo credited his team for their no-quit mindset throughout a contest that they trailed for a majority of, continuing to fight back and only losing by 6 points. He mentioned the “tear-jerking locker room,” alluding to the fact that this team loved each other more than most and was a complete family.
The Spartans lived and died this season by their offensive production and several of their seven losses this season came on bad shooting days, much like they did against Auburn. They shot just 34.4% (22-64) from the field and 30.4% (7-23) from 3-point land but laid everything on the line.
The 30-year head coach went on to dissect the game and how his team simply failed to make shots throughout all 40 minutes, directly leading to the loss. He concluded his opening statement with an impressive claim for this specific team, calling it the “most unbelievable year” he’s had as a coach.
“I thought we missed some good shots in there, but maybe some of it was their defense too,” Izzo said. “Unfortunately, your last game wears with you, I’m asking these guys that if it does, make sure that you do something about it in your life.
” … But all in all, most unbelievable year I’ve had, the most connected year I’ve had, and I just appreciate what these guys did for myself, our program, our university, and our community.”
The Spartans will pivot to next season in hopes of returning to this stage and finding a different result. After being picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten and coming into the season unranked, Izzo and his guys defied the odds and became one of the marquee groups that Michigan State has ever seen.
