Tom Izzo doubles down on his transfer portal approach

Tom Izzo stuck to his guns in the transfer portal and doubled down on his approach this offseason, landing guys who fit his system.

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about how Tom Izzo wanted to take more of a Purdue approach to the transfer portal than Illinois. That had some fans from all three teams upset at that statement. Some fans were saying it is the wrong approach and that Izzo would never get a transfer. While the first part of that could still be in question, the second part of that statement is incorrect.

In just a month, Michigan State has not only taken one transfer but it has landed two. There were people that believed that even one transfer would not happen but definitely not two. Looking back at the statement that Izzo made, you can see that he doubled down on his approach.

This approach is one that he is going to bring a few guys in and try not to hurt the culture that he has built. That’s what he is hoping to do with Frankie Fidler and Szymon Zapala.

You can have different opinions on this mindset and the players that were brought in.

For a lot of fans, it seemed like they were happy with the Fidler addition. He is a shooter who can make a tough shot and he played a position of need. There was one other positional need on this team and it was at center. Fans wanted a starting center who raised the ceiling and floor of the team and fans don’t think that happened with the Zapala commitment. I’m not saying adding Zapala does this but this addition shows that Izzo is doubling down not only his transfer portal strategy but also his belief in his guys.

This has caused a lot of fans to be frustrated and that’s valid.

This is also what Tom Izzo was saying in his statement. He wanted to take more of an approach of not disrupting the culture and upsetting his players. Having this culture something that Izzo believes in and that could be the reason for this approach of adding Frankie and Zapala. This could lead to another disappointing season but this is the culture he wants to protect.