Tom Izzo defends how he’s handled Xavier Booker this season

Tom Izzo was asked about Xavier Booker’s playing time in the second half against Ohio State and he stood firm on his decision.

How Tom Izzo has handled Xavier Booker once again is making headlines surrounding this Michigan State basketball team. This time, however, Izzo took a different approach when answering a question about his star freshman.

Izzo had a press conference on Wednesday as the Spartans head into their showdown with Purdue on Saturday. Booker always comes up in his press conferences now, but this time Izzo responded in a different way.

Tom Izzo defends how he’s handling Xavier Booker

It’s no secret that many have questioned how Izzo has handled Booker this season. His lack of playing time recently, especially when he has played well, has been mind-boggling to say the least. But Izzo is standing firm on his decisions, and for the first time really showed that publicly during his press conference on Wednesday.

Strong defense from Tom Izzo today on his decision-making, particularly with Xavier Booker. Story to come.

“I didn’t forget how to coach, contrary to what most of our probably alums feel right now. In not one ounce of a night do I worry about how I’ve dealt with Booker."

— Kyle Austin (@kylebaustin) February 28, 2024

This isn’t a side that we see from Izzo very often. He isn’t afraid of criticism and he typically is able to shake it off without providing a comment publicly. That however isn’t the case here as Izzo defended how he’s handled Booker this season.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t understood why Booker hasn’t played more at all recently. Especially in the recent loss to Ohio State when he rode the bench for the final 15 minutes after being the best MSU post player by far. But this comment from Izzo is making me doubt him a lot less.

Maybe we all need to relax

Tom Izzo is a Hall of Fame coach for a reason. It’s not a secret that he knows what he’s doing. So for him to say that he doesn’t regret any decision he’s made with Booker weirdly enough makes me feel better. I don’t think there’s much for the fanbase to be upset about anymore considering Xavier Booker has also publicly said that he and Izzo are on the same page.

Sure we all want to see him play more and think we’d be a better team if he did. But if Tom Izzo and Xavier Booker are on the same page, who are we to disagree with them? There’s nothing wrong with thinking Izzo should handle Booker differently, but Izzo is one of the greatest of all time for a reason.

So sometimes we, myself included, need to take a step back and let Izzo work his magic.