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Michigan State Spartans basketball coach Tom Izzo met with the media today, via Zoom, prior to the Champions Classic showdown with the Duke Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina on Tuesday night.
This game was of course originally supposed to be played at a neutral site, but due to COVID issues, it essentially became a home game (without fans) for Duke. That doesn’t bother Izzo or the Spartans, who are just excited for the chance to play against another quality program.
“(Playing at Duke) was agreed upon by (Duke head coach) Mike (Krzyzewski) and I,” Izzo said. “You know what, it’s gonna be good. We need to go on the road some. We’re gonna have to get used to that atmosphere and everything and that’s what we’re going to do. So, no issues, perfect situation.”
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter to Izzo where the game is played, as long as the tradition of the Champions Classic is still proceeding in some form or fashion.
“The Champions Classic has been something that we’ve been a part of for 10 years,” Izzo said. “I think it’s very important to college basketball, but very important to Michigan State basketball. These are four programs that have been to a lot of Final Fours in the last 10 years — and thank God, I think we lead in that area. So, we’ve earned our right to be in this thing, but Kansas, Kentucky, Duke — I mean they’re all great, great programs. I think it is good that we can play this thing. I think it’s good for college basketball. I think it’s good for Michigan State basketball and Duke basketball. And I think our players are excited to be able to play in something like this.”
Apologies in advance for taking the easy way out today, but instead of a normal article from me, which would be full of quotes, I am just going to embed the video with Izzo’s full comments below.
Junior forward Joey Hauser and sophomore forward Malik Hall also spoke to the media today. You can find the full video clips of each of their comments below: