Michigan State coach Tom Izzo showed some tough love to one of his former players Monday night during Spartans stunning victory against USC in East Lansing.
Paul Davisa standout player for Izzo and the Spartans in the early 2000s, was in the Breslin Center stands to show support for his alma mater.
Apparently he went too far.
With Michigan State up 21 midway through the fourth quarter, referee Jeffrey Anderson stopped the game and pointed to Davis, who was sitting three rows back from the court on the opposite side of the team bench. Anderson then walked over to talk to Izzo.
The coaching legend, in his 31st year leading the Spartans, then looked across the court at Davis with his arms outstretched and appeared to repeatedly shout, “What are you doing?” and adding at least one curse word.
As he walked back across the court, Henderson again pointed at Davis and motioned for him to leave the area. Employee (identified by ESPN when Michigan State associate athletic director Seth Kesler) approached Davis to see him off. Davis stood up and looked down at the court with his hands on his chest. From the sideline, Izzo was seen apparently motioning for Davis to leave and saying, “Get out of here.”
Davis eventually did as he was told and watched the rest of the game from a room in the concourse. according to the Detroit Free Press.
Reporters asked Izzo about the incident after the 80-51 win.
“I love Paul Davis. I really do. He's one of my favorite guys. He's always calling and doing something. But what he said, he should never say anywhere in the world. And that annoyed me,” Izzo said. “I'll have to call him tomorrow and tell him what I think about it. And you know what he'll say? 'I screwed up, coach.' I'm really sorry”.
“So he was kind of going after the official, and he was 150 percent wrong. And for a guy like me, who agrees 150 percent with the official, it's almost illegal.”
Izzo declined to say what Davis told Henderson.
“Let's not get carried away,” Izzo said. “It wasn't something racial, it wasn't something sexual. It was just said the wrong way and I'll leave it at that.”
Davis played for Izzo and the Spartans from 2002 to 2006, during which time he went to the Final Four and another run that ended with a trip to the Elite Eight. He currently ranks among the top 10 all-time Michigan State players in several statistical categories, including scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and free throws made (stats in all four categories go back to 1966).
Selected Clippers A second-round draft pick in 2006, Davis played three years in Los Angeles and one season with the Washington Wizards before continuing his career in Europe until 2016.
Michigan State did not immediately respond to questions from The Times about whether there would be any further consequences for Davis following the incident. But Izzo has made it clear he wants his former star player back on the team.
“I want to tell him he was wrong, like I would tell my son, my daughter, my player, like I would tell myself,” Izzo said. “But I don't want – I need Paul Davis here. Paul Davis is a very important part of this program because he went through some tough times when he was here, and he was a really good advocate for telling kids how to, you know, deal with the process.”
“So I'll go with Paul. He just made a mistake tonight.”
