Tom Izzo: Indiana basketball coach Mike Woodson being on hot seat is 'mind-boggling'
Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo got fired up talking about the state of the Indiana basketball program that handed his Spartans a 65-64 loss on Sunday afternoon.
Izzo fielded a question during his post-game press conference about the success Kel'el Ware had in the second half. The sophomore single-handedly kept IU afloat with 14 of the team's 16 points coming out of halftime — he assisted on the only other basket — and closed out the half with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting.
It was Ware's lone free throw in the final seconds that gave the Hoosiers the lead.
Izzo, the veteran-most coach in the Big Ten, used the opportunity to share a few pointed comments about the recent criticism Woodson has received from the program's fan base and the school confirming he would be brought back for the 2024-25 season.
"This great profession I'm in," Izzo said, shaking his head. "Mind boggling to me that Mike has won 18 games in a conference, that's really difficult from 2 to 13, and somebody has got to stick up for him coming back next year? What a joke, what a joke, man. Administrators, what a joke."
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Woodson fielded a question about all the uncertainty surrounding the program — the team's lone 2024 signee has reportedly asked out of his letter of intent — but offered a similar response to the one he gave reporters in Minnesota last week when the topic came up.
"Should never be any questions about the job based on what I have done here since I stepped foot in Indiana as a coach," Woodson said. "I'm not going to entertain questions about it because shouldn't be anything out there floating around about my job. I've done my job and I'm going to continue to do it."
Izzo did eventually circle back to Ware.
Michigan State's coach was plenty familiar with the 7-foot-0 center having previously faced off against him. Ware made his first career start against the Spartans in the Phil Knight Invitational during the 2022-23 season.
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The then-true freshman had 17 points and nine rebounds in 34 minutes. He only played 30-plus minutes in one other game that season with his playing time vanishing during conference play.
"He wasn't very good (last year)," Izzo said. "Kind of like our kid (Xavier) Booker, I think strength and I think he's tougher. Earlier in the year he was OK, but the last half of the year he's been a force to be reckoned with. I give Mike a lot of credit and Ware a lot of credit."
Ware has resurrected his draft stock with his improved play in Bloomington.
He's averaging a team-high 15.7 points (59.4%) and 9.7 rebounds per game. During IU's four-game win streak, he's putting up 22.5 points (72.3%) and 12.3 rebounds, and as Izzo said, "eating teams alive."
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Tom Izzo forcefully defends Indiana basketball coach Mike Woodson
