Izzo Weighs In On Academic Scandals, Says Athletes Should Also Be Held Accountable
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - Entering his 20th season as the head coach of Michigan State, Tom Izzo talked Wednesday about the direction of college athletics and whether he sees the priority of universities skewing toward athletics rather than academics when it comes to student-athletes.
The academic scandal at North Carolina has raised such concerns, but Izzo said such instances are few and far between, and he noted that when such widespread problems do occur, coaches or administrators are not the only culprits.
"I think 95 percent of the places, including North Carolina, academics is definitely at the forefront," Izzo told Stoney, Bill and Sara of 97.1 The Ticket. "I know it is here, I know it is at Michigan, I know it is at Indiana and Purdue, all the Big Ten teams, I really do. I know that all but firsthand ... I'm a little concerned where college athletics is going, but I'm also concerned on everybody wants to scrutinize the coaches.
"Players that are 18, 19 and 20 years old have the ability to make their own decision, and with those decisions there's consequences, and I think sometimes we're giving a hall pass to too many people," Izzo continued. "It's not all the parents' fault. It's not all the coach's fault. I know when I was being raised, I was held accountable to my own decisions. I don't know everything that's gone on [at North Carolina]; I do know this, I said it at Michigan, I said Brady Hoke doesn't send a guy out there that he knows is injured, [North Carolina basketball coach] Roy Williams isn't trying to get a guy cheating in a class, or whatever happens there, Tom Izzo isn't going to do that. I think we've got to watch where we're going because what's spiraling out of control is the Twitter, the social media, and all the accusations. I think that's spiraling out of control, so that worries me for college athletics."
The Spartans start their season Nov. 14, and Izzo said that while his team needs to improve, he believes it will do exactly that.
"We won a lot of games [last year] with some of these guys that were backups then, so they got some experience, but on a night-in, night-out basis, everybody had to raise their level, and especially [Branden] Dawson, [Denzel] Valentine and [Travis] Trice, and I think all three of them are primed for a great year, and then we'll see which one of the new guys comes on ... Our main three have got to be real good. I think we're going to get better as the year goes. We've got a brutal schedule early again ... so they're going to get their eyes opened quickly, and we're just going to have to be a little patient with them.
"I think right now we're still a team trying to get better, and we're going to have to get a lot better," Izzo added, "but I think we have the potential to."