- Neighbors say MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo is an 'institution' in East Lansing
- Izzo's contributions stretch beyond the hardwood including at a hospital in the neighborhood
- Video shows neighbors explaining why Izzo is special to MSU and East Lansing
Coach Tom Izzo continues to rack up the wins for Michigan State Basketball keeping the racks full at shops like the Rally House in East Lansing.
"When the [men's] basketball team does great, stores like mine do very well," said store manager David Boyd.
Boyd and his family, originally from Decatur, Illinois, moved to East Lansing in 1969. Boyd remembers celebrating Michigan State's national title in 1979.
"My parents brought me and my sisters downtown right here outside 7/11," said Boyd.
Boyd, a season ticket holder for Spartan basketball games, had no doubts on where Izzo ranks on his list of all-time greatest basketball coaches.
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"[Izzo is] easily the best coach I feel in the history of basketball," Boyd said.
I met David Scharrer, a freshman from Rochester, Michigan, in the store when he told me he was a recovering Michigan Wolverines fan.
"I used to be a Michigan fan," said Scharrer.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I didn't get into [the University of] Michigan. Haven't looked back since," said Scharrer. "I made the right decision."
I asked the freshly-minted Spartan for his thoughts on Izzo. Scharrer says Izzo is a cornerstone of the community and committed to MSU.
"A lot of these coaches around the country are just going job to job, paycheck to paycheck," said Scharrer. "[Izzo] really does care about his players."
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"[Izzo] feels this university deep down in his bones," said Boyd.
In 2023, McLaren Greater Lansing dedicated the Izzo Family Medical Center in honor of the Izzo family says Lynn Griffor, vice president of philanthropy and chief experience officer at McLaren Greater Lansing.
"This building in particular represents people in our community not having to go to Grand rapids... [or] Detroit," Griffor said. "They can get the care they need right here.
But Griffor says Izzo's contributions extend further than the Breslin Center.
"The Izzo Foundation not only supports McLaren but also supports the Greater Lansing Food Pantry," said Griffor.
Griffor says the hospital was able to partner with the food pantry to open the first food pantry inside of a cancer center in Michigan thanks to the Izzo family's contributions.
"He's an institution in this area," Boyd said.
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