MSU head coach Tom Izzo is sending another apprentice out into the head coaching world.

MSU associate head coach Doug Wojcik was hired by Tulsa on Monday to replace interim head coach Alvin Williamson, who led the Golden Hurricane to a 9-20 season after John Phillips resigned in December.

Wojcik is the sixth coach under Izzo to nab a head coaching job.

Wojcik will stick with MSU for the NCAA Tournament including Friday's opening game against Old Dominion, but has a short timetable to assemble his staff.

Izzo joked at his weekly Monday press conference that the bad news was former MSU coach Jud Heathcote called to say he's interested in the position.

"But I think I'm going for 10 years younger, and we're going to hire Gene Keady," Izzo said with a laugh.

Izzo said when Wojcik came to MSU, there was an understanding it would be a short stop before he snagged a head coaching job but his contribution would help the Spartans and give Wojcik the extra experience he needed.

Hiring Wojcik puts Tulsa back on track with past practices of hiring up-and-coming coaches including Tubby Smith, Bill Self and Buzz Peterson.

Wojcik has spent two seasons at MSU, specializing in recruiting and scouting. He spent three years at North Carolina before that where he helped recruit McDonald's All-Americans Jawad Williams, Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants and Sean May.

He also coached at Notre Dame, where he helped recruit Chris Thomas before he was an assistant coach at Navy.

Before that, Wojcik played point guard with former NBA star David Robinson at Navy.

"Right now, if I had stayed in the Navy, I would be probably the commanding officer of a ship," Wojcik said at his press conference. "What I decided I wanted to do was be the commanding officer of a Division I basketball program."