Detroit Pistons offered Tom Izzo $35 million to become head coach
By Josh Hill
It seems that college coaches aren’t as hot to make the leap to the pros as they once were as college basketball is paying more than it ever has and the lifestyle seems to be on that the greats of the game have become accustomed to. We’re seeing this reflected in the utter lack of interest coming from top college coaches when offered large sums of money to jump to the NBA and take up a coaching job there.
According to Jerry Zgoda from the Star Tribune, one of the top potential coaching targets has already rejected a contract with an NBA team, as Tom Izzo turned down a $35 million contract to join the Detroit Pistons.
Interestingly enough, the contract that Izzo turned down was the same contract that Stan Van Gundy later agreed to.
Fred Hoiberg, Billy Donovan, Roy Williams, John Calipari and so many others have shown a lack of interest in coaching an NBA team which means either college basketball truly is that sweet of a deal or the NBA just isn’t as appealing to coaches as it once was back in the day. With big television contracts, national media exposure and all the control in the world, there’s really no reason for the top names in college to subject themselves to the short-leashed, knee-jerk world that NBA coaches live in from a year-to-year basis.