Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has left the National Association of Basketball Coaches Board after 18 years in protest of the NCAA’s arbitrary decisions regarding waiver requests from undergraduate transfers.
He resigned Sunday night in a phone call to NABC president Jim Haney.,
In particular, Izzo was upset over the denial of Joey Hauser’s appeal to play this season while making numerous transfers inexplicably eligible. “Joey had a strong case and I’m devastated,” Izzo said.
Hauser transferred to Michigan State from Marquette in May and requested a wavier to play immediately instead of sitting for a year. The NCAA recently changed its waiver policy to give ,more undergraduate transfers a chance to become immediately eligible to compete.
“I can’t get into specifics, but in looking at the way waivers were approved and denied and then studying like I have, the old standard of one or two reasons has just blown up,” Izzo said. “If you want the truth, I did not think anything of it in August because we weren’t going to do anything. And then the family brought up what’s going on in different places. And seeing what’s going on and talking to some coaches, I’m devastated for him to have to sit out his second year in three years, because he did enroll at Marquette early.
”I do believe we have a tight team and we’re going to get through it. And he’s going to get through it.”
It’s time for the NCAA to come down with a uniform policy, making all transfers either sit a year or making them eligible after sitting for a half season at their new year.
The 6-9 Hauser, who is from Stevens Point, Wisc., averaged nearly 10 points and five plus rebounds last season as a freshman and would have given the Spartans the wing shooter they were looking for after double figure sophomore wing Josh Langford re-injured his left foot in pre-season, leaving him sidelined indefinitely; and another weapon for a search for their first national championship since 2000.
:When we filed the appeal, I was planning on not playing this year,” Hauser said at Michigan State’s media day. “It was something we looked into and it got my hopes up a little bit. You never know. Some guys get it, some guy’s don’t.”
AP third-ranked Michigan State plays Virginia Tech next week in the Maui Invitational, where they will also face Dayton or Georgia and potentially No. 4 Kansas.
