Tom Izzo Names Gordy LeDuc his Honorary Coach for Exhibition Game at Northern Michigan
10/8/2024 10:11:00 AM | Men's Basketball
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State head men's basketball coach Tom Izzo announced today that Gordy LeDuc, his high school coach, will serve as an honorary coach and sit on the MSU bench when the Spartans play an exhibition game at Northern Michigan on Sunday, Oct. 13.
The Spartans and the Wildcats will tip off on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. in the Superior Dome Showdown. The exhibition is being played at Northern's Superior Dome, recognized in the 2010 Guinness Book of World Records as the largest free-standing wooden dome in the world. The game will air live on BTN, with Lisa Byington and Bill Raftery calling all of the action.
Izzo was coached by LeDuc at Iron Mountain High School in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In 1972, Izzo and the Mountaineers made a famous run to the Upper Peninsula regional finals, the program's first appearance in 11 years as they sought the first title in more than 30 years. Iron Mountain lost, 51-50, to a heavily favored team, with Izzo missing a free throw with two seconds left that would have tied the game.
"I've been fortunate in my life to have so many people who helped to guide me and shape me into the person and coach I became," Izzo said. "Gordy LeDuc was one of the great basketball influences I've had and I still carry lessons he taught me many years ago.
"In that regional final back in 1972, I still remember him coming over to me, embracing me and telling me everything was going to be alright. And you know what? Everything has turned out pretty well.
"I could not think of a better way to honor Gordy and not only what he meant to me, but to my teammates at Iron Mountain and all of the other kids he coached in a Hall of Fame career, than to have him on the bench with me for a game at Northern Michigan."
LeDuc spent 27 years coaching boys' basketball at six different high schools with an overall record of 379-208 and an overall winning record at each different school. His coaching career began in 1962 and his teams would go on to win eight conference championships, 15 district championships, four regional championships and a state championship.
The Spartans and the Wildcats will tip off on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. in the Superior Dome Showdown. The exhibition is being played at Northern's Superior Dome, recognized in the 2010 Guinness Book of World Records as the largest free-standing wooden dome in the world. The game will air live on BTN, with Lisa Byington and Bill Raftery calling all of the action.
Izzo was coached by LeDuc at Iron Mountain High School in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In 1972, Izzo and the Mountaineers made a famous run to the Upper Peninsula regional finals, the program's first appearance in 11 years as they sought the first title in more than 30 years. Iron Mountain lost, 51-50, to a heavily favored team, with Izzo missing a free throw with two seconds left that would have tied the game.
"I've been fortunate in my life to have so many people who helped to guide me and shape me into the person and coach I became," Izzo said. "Gordy LeDuc was one of the great basketball influences I've had and I still carry lessons he taught me many years ago.
"In that regional final back in 1972, I still remember him coming over to me, embracing me and telling me everything was going to be alright. And you know what? Everything has turned out pretty well.
"I could not think of a better way to honor Gordy and not only what he meant to me, but to my teammates at Iron Mountain and all of the other kids he coached in a Hall of Fame career, than to have him on the bench with me for a game at Northern Michigan."
LeDuc spent 27 years coaching boys' basketball at six different high schools with an overall record of 379-208 and an overall winning record at each different school. His coaching career began in 1962 and his teams would go on to win eight conference championships, 15 district championships, four regional championships and a state championship.
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