HACKENSACK, N.J. -- On this week's episode of The Greg Herenda Show, Coach Herenda chats with Michigan State head coach and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, Tom Izzo.
 
On the program, Izzo and Herenda reminisce about their 30 years of friendship and discuss the addition of Maurice Joseph to the FDU men's basketball staff. Joseph played two seasons under Izzo at Michigan State from 2005-07.

Catch the show Sunday at 7:30 a.m. on WFDU 89.1 FM, www.wfdu.fm and iHeartRadio or catch the episode at the Herenda Show Archive Page.
 
About Tom Izzo:
via MSUSpartans.com
 
Tom Izzo, who was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 9, 2016, boasts a career record of 574-225 at Michigan State University.

Now in his 24th year, Izzo has compiled an impressive list of accomplishments, including the 2000 NCAA National Championship, eight regular-season Big Ten Championships, five Big Ten Tournament titles, seven Final Four appearances, eight National Coach of the Year awards and a Big Ten-record 21 straight NCAA Tournament appearances. 

In late November 2009, he passed his mentor Jud Heathcote (340 wins) to become MSU's all-time winningest coach. In the NCAA Tournament, Izzo is at his best, winning at a clip of .706 to rank fourth among all active coaches with at least 10 tournament games coached. His 48 NCAA Tournament wins are the most ever for a Big Ten coach, and rank sixth all-time.  

A 2015 inductee into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, Izzo led MSU to seven Final Four appearances between 1999 and 2015 and is one of just two coaches in NCAA history to reach four Final Fours in his first 10 years of coaching. His seven Final Four appearances rank fifth all-time, third among active coaches and first all-time among Big Ten coaches.

Through 23 seasons, Izzo is one of the most successful coaches in Big Ten history. His .690 winning percentage in Big Ten games ranks third all-time among league coaches with at least 10 years of service, while in all games, Izzo ranks fourth (.718). With 272 conference victories, Izzo ranks second all-time, trailing just Indiana's Bob Knight (353 wins), while also ranking second for most wins at a Big Ten institution (574), trailing just Knight (662).

Izzo is the longest serving active Big Ten men's basketball head coach and if you include his 12 years as an assistant, the 2018-19 season was his 36th with the Spartans.
 
Individually, players have excelled under Izzo. Eleven Spartans have earned some form of All-America honors including Denzel Valentine who earned six different National Player of the Year awards in 2016 and Draymond Green who was named National Player of the Year by the NABC in 2012. Thirty-four different players have earned all-conference recognition, including 13 different first-team honorees, five Big Ten Players of the Year, three Big Ten Freshmen of the Year and two Big Ten Defensive Players of the Year.

Under Izzo, Michigan State has had 20 players selected in the NBA Draft, including 19 since 2000, 11 of whom were first rounders  Izzo has also emerged as a teacher, not only to his players, but also his assistant coaches. Three current Division I head coaches served as assistants to Izzo, including Brian Gregory (South Florida), Mark Montgomery (Northern Illinois) and Tom Crean (Georgia). In total, eight former assistants have earned head coaching jobs.

In his 36th season as a member of the MSU coaching staff, Izzo has been with the Spartan program since taking a part-time assistant coaching position in 1983. An assistant coach with the Spartans from 1983-86, Izzo left MSU in May of 1986 to become the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Tulsa. But, on June 10 of the same year, Izzo returned to East Lansing when Spartan assistant Mike Deane left to become head coach at Siena College. 

Izzo originally came to MSU from Northern Michigan, where he had been an assistant from 1979-83. He was named a part-time assistant at MSU in September 1983. When former assistant Edgar Wilson left in November 1983, Izzo became a full-time assistant.
 
Izzo played guard for NMU's basketball team from 1973-77, and was voted the team's MVP as a senior. He was also a third-team Division II All-America pick that year and established the Wildcat record for most minutes played in a season. Following his graduation from NMU in 1977, Izzo took over as head coach at Ishpeming High School and served in that position for the 1977-78 campaign. 

In 1990, Izzo was inducted into the Northern Michigan University Hall of Fame and was selected as an inductee into the Upper Peninsula Hall of Fame during the summer of 1998. He was inducted into the National Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2011, and the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. He received the sport's ultimate honor when his election into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame was announced on April 4, 2016. He was officially enshrined in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Sept. 9, 2016.  

Izzo is also an active volunteer in the community. Among his many efforts, he is very active with Coaches Vs. Cancer, Volunteers of America and Sparrow Hospital. In 2009, Izzo was presented the Coaches Vs. Cancer Champion Award, recognizing his work and leadership in the fight to save lives from cancer. 

Izzo was born Jan. 30, 1955. His family includes his wife, Lupe, daughter, Raquel, and son, Steven.