It’s 7:00 a.m. and I am woken up by a humming outside of my house. The noise grows faint before stopping and then picks again. I peek out the window to see none other than Tom Izzo, dragging the beach on his four wheeler outside of my family’s home in Grand Haven, Michigan.
But he didn’t just drag the beach to remove the debris and smooth the beach out at our house; he also did it for three other neighbors all while everyone else was sound asleep. This was the daily routine during his “vacation” time up at his cottage over the summer and remains true to this day.
I wouldn’t have even known about Michigan State University or the Michigan State Basketball program if it wasn’t for the Izzo family moving next door to my family’s summer house over 14 years ago. As the years passed by we became friends, and when it was time to make my decision on where to go to college, the coach next door offered to take my family and I to an MSU Football game and show us around Michigan State’s campus.
When I went for my “official visit,” not only did Tom take the time to drive us all around East Lansing, pointing out the great spots to eat and shop, but he also took us to a football game like he would a basketball recruit.
Even though he had real basketball recruits that he was entertaining at the game the same weekend, he took time to come and sit with my family and make us feel welcome at the university. I didn’t have any basketball talent or anything to offer to him; I was just a 17-year-old girl, confused on where to go to college. He was willing to help guide me.
As fate would have it, I would end up choosing to go to school at Michigan State, where Tom stepped up again, offering me a job as a student secretary in the Men’s Basketball Office. Over the course of my four years there, Tom would oftentimes pull me aside to make sure that I felt welcome and comfortable. He also did the same thing with countless other female secretaries I worked with.
In a school of over 50,000 it was overwhelming at first, but the family atmosphere in the basketball office made the adjustment of being away at college easier.
Going to basketball-related events and being invited to the Izzo family home was a common occurrence for the ladies who worked as student secretaries. Even the women who worked in the basketball office got the rare opportunity to go along with managers to huge games in the NCAA tournament. I was lucky enough to witness two Final Fours.
During my time there I also saw Tom do countless things for the community and Coaches vs. Cancer organization, including inviting an 8-year-old cancer patient, Lacey Holsworth, into the basketball family to make her final days really special. He even received the Dean Smith award in 2016 as a recognition of his humanitarian work off the court.
I graduated from Michigan State in 2010 but continue to see Tom doing kind acts for former student secretaries. Tom and his wife Lupe were kind enough to offer their house for my wedding, allowing us to set up dinner tables in their yard. He helped another former secretary land her dream job in sports and another secretary land a job with an NHL team.
This past summer, another former student secretary got married in California and a group of past basketball secretaries decided to rent an Airbnb and go to the wedding. Tom’s wife, Lupe, joined us on the trip and told us that Tom had taken care of paying for the Airbnb for us because of “all the hard work” we did for him during our time there. Eight years removed from working at Michigan State, Tom still let us know that he valued our time there. That meant a lot.
Some of the best friends that I have to this day are the females that I worked with in that office, all of whom Izzo hired. In a group text message today, we couldn’t help but share in the good times that we had during our time in the Michigan State Men’s basketball office, all because Tom gave us each a shot.
All eight of us women could not think of a single bad thing to say about Tom over the years that we have known him. All that was discussed was how much he’s given to us over the years, asking for nothing in return.
In the male-dominated industry of college athletics, Tom made the women who worked for him feel like they had a voice. We were always respected when we were at work. Tom never had an ego and always made us feel safe, taking the role of a father figure while we were away at school.
What happened with Larry Nassar and the women whom he assaulted sickens me. I can’t even begin to imagine what those victims are feeling. But I also can’t help but want to share my story about Tom, who has given so much to those around him.
I could sit here all day and write about kind things that Izzo has done for myself and the women that I worked with in the basketball office, helping almost all of us land jobs after college, but if I did, this article would be over 10,000 words long.
I am a recipient of Tom Izzo’s kindness and know about 50 other women that he has worked with who feel the same as I do. All of the things he has done for the women who worked for him were done out of pure kindness and generosity, not asking for anything in return. He didn’t help us because he was in front of the cameras or because he wanted to get something in return; he did it because he truly cared about us. That says a lot about his character.
Shoutout to @BobBao for the best pic yet of the new Tom Izzo wax sculpture. It’s like trying to figure out who is the real Capt. Kirk. pic.twitter.com/qGkRS3EuJI — Chris Solari (@chrissolari) January 6, 2018
Behind the Hall of Famer who has led his team to seven Final Fours and one National Championship is a man who cares about women, but more importantly a man who cares about people. And that’s worth writing a story about.