Tom Izzo was a little understandably broken up talking about Denzel Valentine on Friday
Friday we were all witnesses to one of the biggest upsets in the history of the NCAA Tournament, as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest, the Michigan State Spartans, were downed by 15-seed Middle Tennessee State in an upset that really no one saw coming. With a lot of people pegging the Spartans as eventual champions, it truly was a stunner.
Lost in all the (deserved) praise for Middle Tennessee, however, was this was officially the last collegiate game for one of the best in Michigan State history, Denzel Valentine. After four years in East Lansing, he now is being forced to prepare for the NBA Draft, something we’re all sure he did not want to start this soon.
After the game was over, head coach Tom Izzo was understandably a little emotional when he was asked about his senior and one of the best players that he has ever coached.
"“Thank you. I love you, man.” – Tom Izzo to Denzel Valentine https://t.co/w7fKEbDfHG #MarchMadness— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 18, 2016"
Really, you can understand where the emotion from Izzo is coming from. It’s very, very rare these days that you get to coach someone the caliber of Valentine for four years, but the Michigan State head man was lucky enough to do that and he knows he’s going to miss the young man.
All of college basketball will, that’s for sure.
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