MINNEAPOLIS — His black Lexus SUV zoomed south on Interstate 69 toward Indianapolis — a three-and-a-half-hour recruiting trip Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and his assistant, Dane Fife, had made countless times before.

But something felt different that sunny afternoon last April.

Just a few miles outside of East Lansing, Fife glanced at his boss — nestled in the passenger seat and staring out the window — and knew something wasn’t right.

“He was hurting,” Fife said of Izzo. “He was sad and confused. It was a side of him — a vulnerable side — I’d never seen before.”

Fife paused.

“He was broken,” he said.

Exactly one year after what he called “the lowest point” of his career, Izzo and the Spartans are in Minneapolis preparing for Saturday’s national semifinal showdown against Texas Tech at U.S Bank Stadium. The Final Four berth is the eighth for Izzo in 24 seasons at Michigan State, but this particular journey has been unlike the others for the Hall-of-Famer.

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“It’s good to see so many people smiling again,” Izzo, 64, told Stadium this week. “We’ve been through some hard times. And I’m not just talking about myself and this team. I’m talking about everybody — the entire Michigan State community. We’ve experienced it together.”

Izzo was referring to the scandal involving former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, who served in a similar role at Michigan State. More than 100 athletes have alleged Nassar molested them under the guise of medical treatment.
The situation cast a negative light on Michigan State’s leadership, and Izzo came under national fire for the way he answered a question about the situation in a postgame press conference in January of 2018. Even though his remarks were misunderstood, Izzo issued an apology. One month later, Izzo had to respond to a separate story about the behavior of some of his former players years earlier.

For a coach who has long been admired for his integrity, the attacks on Izzo’s character were something new.

“I never heard him complain about it, but I’m sure it hurt him,” said Kevin Pauga, Michigan State’s assistant athletic director and Izzo’s close friend. “Tom’s reputation means a lot to him — and the program’s reputation means a lot to him. There are a lot to people who have helped build this into what it is, and I think he hurt for everyone.”

And the pain didn’t subside after the season.

In April, when he and Fife got in the car for that recruiting trip — just weeks after a second-round loss to Syracuse in the NCAA tournament — Izzo seemed shaken and weary.

“Normally during car rides, he does all the talking,” Fife said. “But that day he was seeking comfort and advice. He was seeking anything that could help him understand how to handle a terrible situation.”

Izzo had always told Fife that, even after he retired, he’d always planned to remain in East Lansing and “help the university with whatever they need help with.” But that afternoon Izzo expressed fear he’d no longer be wanted.

“He felt like his future with the university very gray,” Fife said. “Everything he envisioned as it relates to post-coaching and still playing a role within the community … it wasn’t looking good, in his mind.

“My objective was to help him understand that his character was not in question, at least not from the people who know who he truly is.”

Fife said he noticed a change in Izzo late-July and early-August, in between the end of summer school and the fall semester. Instead of it being a burden, Izzo vowed to use his pedestal as Michigan State’s basketball coach as a blessing. He’d use it to make a difference, to evoke change.

“Everything just clicked,” Fife said. “It was like he came to work one day and said, ‘I’m not going to live my life as if I’ve done something wrong. I’m not going to worry about something that I can’t control.’

“He decided he was going to help heal the community, help heal the university, help mend some wounds. He wanted to bring the community together through coaching and community service and helping others.”

Said Izzo: “It was a horrific situation. As a leader, my mission now is to do whatever I can to make sure it never happens again.”

And the Spartans, Izzo promised, would, too. Fife said Izzo stood before the team prior to the season and told them they could stand around and watch – or be a part of the solution.

Eight months later, there’s no question that Izzo’s squad has provided a jolt of energy and spirit to a community that was in desperate need of positive vibes. The Spartans will enter Saturday’s Final Four tilt with Texas Tech having won 14 of their past 15 games. Even more impressive about Michigan State is that it reached college basketball’s biggest stage despite injuries to standouts Josh Langford (season-ending) and Nick Ward.

“It’s been uplifting,” Izzo said. “You hope a team can be part of the healing process for everyone. It doesn’t make everything right, but it gives you some perspective that if you rally together, you can make things better.”

And not just by winning.

Izzo said this particular Spartans team is “easy to root for” because of the character the players show off the court.

“Socially and academically, it’s as good of a group as I’ve ever coached,” Izzo said. “I don’t think winning cures all the problems, but it’s the type of team that people can rally around and feel good about. I’ve got letters from survivors and people from all over the world telling me how proud they are of this team and what they’ve stood for.

“They’ve helped bring some sunshine back.”

To Michigan State.

To East Lansing.

And to Izzo, too.

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