Michigan State's Tom Izzo: Transfer Portal Won't Be 'Best Thing for the Kids'

Count Michigan State men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo among those who aren't happy with the current transfer portal situation in college sports.

ESPN's Myron Medcalf shared Izzo's comments during Big Ten media days in which he pushed back at the notion that players should enjoy the same freedoms to change schools that coaches do to change jobs.

"Yeah, I have flexibility, I can leave," the coach said. "I have millions of dollars of a buyout if I leave. I've paid 40 years of dues to leave. Most coaches have put in their time. Most coaches will be doing that at 35 and 40 and 50, not at 20 when one guy tells you to leave because you're unhappy.

"You know what, what's wrong with being unhappy? I'm unhappy most of my life. Unhappy drives you. Unhappy pushes you. Unhappy makes people realize, 'You know what? I'm not good enough. I've got to get better.'"

Izzo also didn't agree with the NCAA's recent decision to reduce the window for players to enter the transfer portal from 60 days to 45 and instead wanted it decreased to 30 days.

"I'm not for what they're looking to do," Izzo said. "I think 30 days would have been plenty. I think most kids know where they're going anyway. I think they forget, we've got a job to do.

"Let me tell you something: This transfer portal is not going to be the best thing for the kids. You get 45 days. If you think a kid is leaving, are you going to go out and get somebody else? Because you can't wait forever. Now it's affecting the kids you've got there."

The comments come after the NCAA Division I Council reached something of a compromise by reducing the window to 45 days.

There were earlier proposals to reduce the window to 30 days, which Izzo apparently would have preferred, but it settled on 45 days and split the difference from the existing 60 days. Graduate students, however, can enter their names in the transfer portal outside of the window.

These new rules only apply to when athletes can enter their names in the portal and reach out to other schools and coaches. Those who are already in the portal can transfer whenever they want without penalty and not just inside the windows.

Players transferring—just like athletes making money from name, image and likeness opportunities—is part of the new norm in college sports. While it gives players more freedom to find situations that are better suited to their skill sets and careers, it does give coaches like Izzo another thing to worry about as they are building their respective programs.

Yet the prevalence of transfers also provides opportunities for coaches to fill roster holes and build better teams, so there is surely some give and take from their perspective.

Izzo's Spartans have not used the portal like many of their rivals, though, as 247Sports lists the team's last incoming transfer as part of the 2021 class. Other Big Ten programs such as Indiana, Penn State, Nebraska, Ohio State and Illinois are in 247Sports' top 50 transfer team rankings for 2023.

Izzo may not like it, but additional freedom in the transfer portal is likely here to stay.

Tom VanHaaren of ESPN noted the new 45-day window for men's and women's basketball will begin the Monday after Selection Sunday, so coaches will have to adjust to the new reality.