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Tom Izzo remembers Mark Pope more as a player than coach -- but 'he's done a good job'

Related Topics: Mark Pope, Tom Izzo, Malachi Moreno

Tom Izzo has been coaching for 31 years, starting his Michigan State career back in 1995-96 with 1042 games under his belt and 740 wins — one of the best to ever do it, sitting comfortably with a .710 win rate and eight Final Fours with a national championship in 1999-00.

Interestingly enough, he’s been around long enough to see Mark Pope‘s full-circle transition from Kentucky basketball player to head coach. In his first season in East Lansing, Pope was the team captain of the Wildcats, averaging 7.