Columbus, Ohio — Recruiting has never been easy for college basketball coaches, but in today's age of the one-and-done players, it can be especially difficult.
As Michigan State prepared to play No. 2 Ohio State and its superstar freshman, Jared Sullinger, on Tuesday, it seemed as good a time as any to ask Spartans coach Tom Izzo about his approach to recruiting players that have a high likelihood of not staying in school for more than a year or two.
"I don't like the player, and there's not a ton of these guys, that says, 'I'm going for one year and I'm out,'" Izzo said. "If he's coming in here and saying that, he's probably not a good player for you most of the time."
Sullinger had just 11 points as Ohio State beat Michigan State, 71-61. Whether he ends up being a one-year player at Ohio State remains to be seen, but at Michigan State, it hasn't been much of an issue. In fact, since Izzo took over as the head coach, only two players left after only one season — Zach Randolph in 2001 and Erazem Lorbek in 2003.
Jason Richardson (2000-01) and Marcus Taylor (2001-02) each played two seasons before leaving and Shannon Brown (2004-06) played three seasons.
"There's a mentality," Izzo said. "Is it important to them to win or are they just using it as a stepping stone? I think winning still has to be important. Like when Zach was here, I didn't know if he was going after one year and he didn't know if he was going after one year. Winning was important to him and it was fun. J.R. was only two years and it was great because to him, winning was of the ultimate importance to him."
But ever since the defection of Taylor, who never made it to the NBA and left far too early in the opinion of most, it has appeared that Izzo has made a point to recruit players that have no intention of leaving after one season.
"I'm not not trying to take guys that are one- and two-year guys," Izzo said. "I wouldn't feel as good about taking a guy that is just using it as a way to say, 'I'll put in my time so I get my NBA passport.'
"Sometimes it can create more problems than good."
Tuesday's game was the first of three straight that start at 9 p.m. for the Spartans.
It has been a long season of late starts for Michigan State, which played three games after 9 p.m. in the first two weeks of the season, including one against South Carolina that started after 10 p.m.
"I don't like the 9 o'clocks for late that night and the next day," Izzo said. "It's an honor to be the 9 o'clock game because that means it's the game that is supposed to draw the most attention. But it does get taxing depending on whether it's a weekday or weekend and we have played a lot on weekdays."
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