He might be the architect of this game. He helped build one program, visiting homes across the country to find the purest talent to wear Carolina Blue. And the other program, he helped groom as an associate head coach, assisting the green and white to the Final Four.
As North Carolina and MSU meet on Saturday in the Final Four, MSU associate head coach Doug Wojcik will be stuck right in the middle.
The Spartans are hoping that he can help give them a slight edge.
"If we don't win this game after recruiting all those kids, he's fired," Izzo said jokingly.
Wojcik already has been hired as the Tulsa head coach, which he said has taken a back seat as MSU makes its postseason run.
But his roots extend deep into the roster of the Tar Heels.
When Wojcik was at North Carolina under then-head coach Matt Doherty, he recruited seniors Jackie Manuel and Melvin Scott.
He also recruited juniors Rashad McCants and Raymond Felton and had a hand in recruiting junior center Sean May and went to Bremerton, Wash. to visit freshman forward Marvin Williams. Guard C.J. Hooker and forward Charlie Everett were his best players on a junior varsity team he coached in Chapel Hill, N.C.
As for who he's brought to MSU in his two years, the list doesn't include anyone that will play on Saturday, but he helped bring freshmen Idong Ibok and Goran Suton, as well as high school seniors Maurice Joseph and Travis Walton.
Wojcik said he has to convince the team that, although it's true that a lot of the Tar Heels players are the top players in the nation, they're just like other opponents MSU has faced.
Izzo said that's what he's going to lean on Wojcik for.
"Because they're North Carolina, they have another side where they have issues just like we do," Izzo said.
"I can give them a calmness of, 'Hey I've been there' and say we're better in this area, and they're better in this area,'" he said.
Wojcik talked to May earlier this week and kept in touch with him and Felton throughout the season.
"It's a weird dynamic last Friday night; they're cheering like crazy for us to beat Duke, and now they want to beat us," he said.
Wojcik is familiar with the style North Carolina plays, and it helps that he knows the players. They might be two years older, but he knows their tendencies.
"I'm really close with (Wojcik)," Felton said.
"It's going to feel awkward seeing him on the other sideline when it wasn't long ago he was in my house (recruiting)."
Wojcik already has the MSU players believing that he could be the X factor.
"He knows them from what they eat before the game to their sleeping patterns," MSU forward Alan Anderson said.
Does that matter?
"We'll know if they're getting enough sleep," Anderson said.
As for getting to work at Tulsa for the 2005-06 season, Wojcik said he realizes he's losing recruiting time, and he has hired his brother to take care of things for now.
"But over time, is going to the Final Four going to be what makes or breaks me at Tulsa?," he said
"If that's the case, life's too short; I'm going to enjoy the Final Four."
