Michigan State University men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo is a legend in East Lansing, so if he wants a fan thrown out of the game, they are as good as gone — even if the fan is former Spartan Paul Davis.
Izzo, 70, was in the middle of coaching his team to an 80-51 win over the University of Southern California on Monday, January 5, when referee Jeffrey Anderson stopped play due to an unruly fan.
That fan, who viewers soon identified as Davis, 41, was seated a few rows off the floor. Cameras didn’t catch what he said, but it was enough for Anderson to blow the whistle, then walk over to Izzo to explain the situation. The TV broadcast showed Izzo appearing to yell “What the f*** are you doing? What are you doing?” toward Davis.
“He kind of got after the official and he was 150 percent wrong,” Izzo explained after the game, per MLive.com, “and for a guy like me to 150 percent agree with the official, it’s almost illegal.”
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Izzo did not reveal what Davis allegedly said to the official, only saying his comments were not racial or sexual.
“I love Paul Davis, I really do, he’s one of my favorite guys,” he continued, “but what he said he should never say anywhere in the world and that ticked me off. Just because it’s 25, 20 years later, I’m going to have to call him tomorrow and tell him what I thought of it. You know what he’ll say, ‘I screwed up, coach, I’m sorry.’”
He added, “It was just the wrong thing to say and I’ll leave it at that.”
Davis played four seasons for Izzo and the Spartans, from 2002 to 2006, helping lead Michigan State to the 2005 Final Four. As a senior in 2005-06, Davis averaged 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game and was a second-round pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. He later appeared on Bravo’s Millionaire Matchmaker in 2009.
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“He made a mistake but he’s been really good with our players too,” Izzo added. “In the summer he comes up and helps work a guy out or he’s just around. [Former Spartans coach] Jud Heathcote used to always tell me sooner or later the game makes fools of us all. Once in a while, the game makes fools of our fans and definitely it’s made a fool of me more than a couple times.”
Davis’ ejection overshadowed what was a milestone night for Izzo, who earned his 750th career win as a head coach — all at Michigan State. Izzo took the reins from his mentor, the legendary Heathcote in 1995, leading the Spartans to the 2000 National Championship, as well as eight Final Fours and six Big Ten championships. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
Izzo now ranks 23rd in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history in career wins, sitting two behind former Oklahoma State coach Hank Iba.
Michigan State’s next game is on Thursday, January 8 at home against Northwestern University.
