MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo will not be on the sideline Saturday night when his Spartans take on Prairie View A&M, following an announcement that he is suspended for one game due to the program committing a secondary violation.
The violation occurred this June, when an Individual Associated with a Prospect, or IAWP, was employed during the annual MSU Boys Basketball Camp. An IAWP is a person who maintains contact with a prospective student-athlete throughout his participation in basketball.
“I’m upset about the situation,” Izzo said. “But it’s an isolated and inadvertent situation. In no way shape or form did we think we did anything wrong. But by the broad letter of the law here, it can be interpreted many different ways, and I have to accept the interpretation of the NCAA.”
The NCAA Board of Directors “endorses and strongly encourages the use of suspensions” to penalize issues involving an IAWP, but both Izzo and Athletics Director Mark Hollis were surprised by the ruling.
“The penalty prescribed by the enforcement staff, however, is not a typical of secondary violation penalty,” Hollis said. “In fact, it’s not a typical penalty at all, as we believe it’s the first of its kind.”
The IAWP involved in this case was paid $475 — the same as everyone else working at the camp — to work with middle school-aged kids at Izzo’s summer camp.
Hollis said the rule is in place to avoid situations where people closely associated with recruits are being paid extra by programs to help sway the recruit’s school choice, which was not the case this summer.
“There have been instances in the past where numbers have been grossly higher at other institutions,” Hollis said. “That’s not the case here. It’s definition and interpretation.”
With the ruling, Hollis said he worries that people will falsely assume this violation is a serious one.
“It creates a significant risk of confusing the public and coaching community, which may well interpret the application of this new NCAA imposed coaching suspension as a case of intention or meaningful misconduct by the coaching staff,” Hollis said. “That conclusion should simply not be made in this place.”
Mark Montgomery will take over as head coach for the No. 14 Spartans (7-3) on Saturday.
Izzo said he is confident his coaching staff will be able to handle the team in his absence, and hopes that his suspension helps to clean up the college game.
“I think the perception of college basketball has taken a dive, and if this helps people understand where it’s at and helps cure the problems we do have, and there are some, then I’m all for it,” Izzo said. “At least it will help educate me and a lot of other people of this rule.”
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