Michigan State University Athletics
Tom Izzo Named NABC National Coach Of The Year
4/2/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
April 2, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo was named the Division I National Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches during the Verizon NABC College Basketball Awards Show Sunday evening in Minneapolis.
"To be named Coach of the Year is a great honor," said Izzo. "The fact that this award is selected by the coaches makes it all the more special to me.
"A lot of different coaches deserved the honor and some might have done more than us this year. But, when I look at this year's team and what it accomplished and what we had to replace from last year's championship team, it might have been one of our best coaching seasons as a staff."
A three-time NABC District 11 Coach of the Year, Izzo led the Spartans to their third-straight Final Four appearance in 2000-01. Finishing the season with a 28-5 record, Michigan State won its fourth-straight regular-season Big Ten Championship, becoming only the third Big Ten school to accomplish that feat.
In 1998, Izzo was named National Coach of the Year by the Associated Press, Basketball News and the United States Basketball Writers Association. One year later, he was given the same honor by Basketball Times. In his six-year career, Izzo has posted a record of 148-53, a winning percentage of .736.
