Tom Izzo entered Year 26 as Michigan State basketball’s head coach reflecting on how much his mentor, Jud Heathcote, loved the first day of practice.
“I just got out of a staff meeting, and I got there early this morning,” Izzo said on a video call Wednesday. “And I said to everybody, I said to DJ (assistant coach Dwayne Stephens), 'You didn't remember this as a player, but this was Jud's favorite day.' It was his favorite day, and he loved to start a practice.”
Neither Izzo nor Heathcote ever dealt with the opening of a season quite like this one, though.