Over the years, Tom Izzo has had some crushing recruiting misses. He’s seen guys like Jabari Parker, Josh Jackson, Cliff Alexander, Brian Bowen, and Isaiah Stewart, just to name a select few, choose other schools after seriously considering Michigan State.<\/p>\n
We all remember the big decisions like they were yesterday and I can bet that every hardcore Michigan State basketball fan can tell you exactly where they were when Jabari Parker picked Duke. That broke every Spartan fan’s heart. And it was just the latest example of Coach K having Izzo’s number on the recruiting trail.<\/p>\n
But even before Parker, there was a high-profile recruit who was high on Michigan State and ended up picking Duke. This was arguably the first major recruiting miss of Izzo’s head coach tenure in East Lansing.<\/p>\n
Who was it? None other than Detroit Country Day’s own Shane Battier.<\/p>\n
Tom Izzo was hired as Michigan State’s head coach in 1995, taking over for Jud Heathcote. Shortly after, a local rising star caught his attention — along with the rest of the nation’s — as Battier was being courted by every major program. Izzo figured he had as good of a shot as anyone since Battier was in his own backyard, but with Duke and North Carolina calling, it was far from a lock.<\/p>\n
Battier went on Draymond Green’s podcast recently to tell the story of why he chose Duke over Michigan State despite his love for Izzo.<\/p>\n
\n"I didn't want to be power forward, I wanted to be a small forward and shoot threes!"<\/p>\n
\u2014@ShaneBattier<\/a> tells @Money23Green<\/a> the hilarious reason he chose Duke over Michigan State pic.twitter.com\/64lADXiBOZ<\/a><\/p>\n
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) February 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n