Dear Coach Izzo,

One of the happiest moments of my life came 10 years ago last April, when I witnessed you, Mateen Cleaves and the rest of the Flintstones defeat the Florida Gators for MSU’s second national championship. Seeing you and Cleaves, both teary-eyed and overwhelmed with joy, embrace after the game while listening to “One Shining Moment” is something I will remember for a long time.

As a kid, I met you for the first time at a basketball camp you hold every summer. It was apparent then that you were more than just a basketball coach. You were actively involved with all of us throughout the camp and taught us how to play basketball the right way.

These moments, more than anything else, should be the only thing you need to indicate you belong at MSU, rather than with some NBA franchise. It embodies the difference between the business-like attitude of the NBA and the family-like atmosphere you have created in East Lansing.

As the head coach at MSU, you are in a position to change people’s lives. Although recruiting might be difficult sometimes, you have the ability to go throughout the state and the country, handpicking young players you can later mold into men.

Players like sophomore center Derrick Nix, who couldn’t keep himself away from a rally to show support for his coach. Nix came to MSU to learn from you and nearly teared up with the thought of losing you.

You’ve become like a father to your players, and that moment after the 2000 National Championship game shows how much of an effect you can have on them.

In the NBA, you would be more of a co-worker than a father. You might be seen as a leader, and players might show you some of the respect a head coach deserves, but at the end of the day, it’s a job for both you and the players. If the players that the organization has given you don’t like the way you do your job, they very well could decide not to do theirs.

Yes, you could prove you are a good NBA coach and that you can win at any level. But if you stay at the university and continue to build MSU into one of the best programs in the country, you could be more than good. You could be one of the best of all time.

By making Final Four appearances and cutting the nets down a couple more times, you would have the chance to put your name on a list with John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski and some of the other all-time greats.

Proving you can coach in college and the NBA puts you on a list with the likes of Larry Brown, who hasn’t done half as much for anyone as you have for MSU.

Right now, you are one of the most respected men in college sports. Not only do you have an impact on East Lansing and the state of Michigan, but also the entire country.

“I give a little moniker that he carries a basketball in one hand and a glimmer of hope for the state of Michigan in the other,” MSU Athletics Director Mark Hollis said of your impact on the state.

The NCAA, which sees its fair share of cheating and scandal, needs a man like you to be a part of it, to show everyone the right way to coach.

Like every other Spartan waiting for you to make your decision, I want you to do what makes you happy. However, I truly believe what would make you the happiest is to follow the advice of your colleague, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, who said, “Tom, put yourself in a seat belt and stay at Michigan State.”