Tom Izzo gives special thank you to fans, alumni after Penn State win (Video)

Tom Izzo gave a special thank you to fans and alumni on Thursday night after the Spartans thrashed Penn State.

Michigan State basketball handled its business on Thursday night, beating Penn State 92-61. This was the last game at the Breslin Center before students return from break and that means we had the Alumni Izzone out in full force.

Sometimes when students are gone on break, college basketball arenas become eerily quiet. That, however, isn’t the case in East Lansing, thanks in large part to the Alumni Izzone.

This annual tradition gives alumni the chance to be students again and go crazy again in the Izzone. They were extremely loud last night, and Tom Izzo even shared a cool message with them after the game.

Tom Izzo addresses alumni, fans after the Penn State win

Directly after the game ended, Tom Izzo grabbed the mic to address the Breslin Center crowd. In this message, he shared his appreciation and thankfulness for everyone coming out to support the team. Izzo said, “If you only knew how much excitement I get out of having you guys come back.”

Izzone Alumni brought the energy last night 💚👏@ThisistheIZZONE pic.twitter.com/zuZRu1QnjO

— Michigan State Men's Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) January 5, 2024

If there’s one thing Tom Izzo loves, it’s this university. Whether it’s his team, other athletic programs, the school, or alumni/fans, Izzo loves everything about MSU. So it’s no surprise that he is this excited to have the alumni around the program.

It’s easy for any student to go to a game and be in the Izzone. They’re already on campus, so why not make it to a few games each year? However, it isn’t easy for most alumni to make a game. Izzo knows that the alumni in the Izzone every year are the ultra MSU basketball fans. That’s not to say that one fan is better than another, but these are the fans who care a lot about the program and would travel hundreds of miles to support the team.

Izzo knows this and was extremely thankful for every person in the Izzone on Thursday.

Tom Izzo continued praise in postgame press conference

Tom Izzo kept dishing out his thanks and praise for the alumni in his postgame press conference. However, the Alumni Izzone weren’t perfect, and Tom made sure to let them know.

“The Alumni Izzone, we had a little lull there and I kind of got on them about getting on and they were unbelievable how they reacted.”

To be fair, it’s hard to stay fully engaged when MSU is up by so much. But I remember this moment in the second half when Izzo was physically urging the crowd to get back into the game. And as Izzo mentioned, they responded beautifully.

The last thing Tom said about the Alumni Izzone speaks volumes as to why Michigan State is a special place.

“As I told them (Alumni Izzone), they were part of building it, now we’ve got a lot of fans that are part of renting it and we’re going to get on them to build it even bigger and that’s gonna be the chore of the next couple of weeks.”

This is a perfect way to say thank you to the alumni who helped create one of the best atmospheres in college basketball. This also is a call to action to the current Izzone to keep the tradition going and make it even better.

Michigan State basketball is amazing for so many reasons. But one of the best is the people, both former and current. Whether it be current students, season ticket holders, or alumni who return only once a year, we all play a role in helping our program and we all take our roles seriously. That’s why MSU basketball is special and will continue to be even when Izzo no longer roams the sidelines.