Michigan State coach Tom Izzo showed some tough love for one of his former players on Monday night during the Spartans’ blowout victory against USC in East Lansing.
Paul Davis, a standout player for Izzo and the Spartans during the early 2000s, was in the stands at Breslin Center to show support for his alma mater.
Apparently he went too far.
With Michigan State up by 21 midway through the fourth quarter, referee Jeffrey Anderson stopped the game and pointed toward Davis, who was sitting three rows up from the court on the opposite side of the teams’ benches. Anderson then went over to speak with Izzo.
The coaching legend in his 31st year leading the Spartans then looked across the court at Davis with his arms spread open and appeared to shout more than once, “What are you doing?” and adding at least one curse word.
As Henderson walked back across the court, he pointed at Davis again and gestured for him to leave the area. A staffer (identified by ESPN as Michigan State associate athletic director Seth Kesler) approached Davis to escort him out. Davis stood up and looked toward the court while placing his hands on his chest. Izzo could be seen from the sideline apparently motioning for Davis to leave and saying, “Get out of here.”
Davis eventually did as he was told and watched the rest of the game from a suite in the concourse level, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Izzo was asked about the incident by reporters after the 80-51 victory.
“I love Paul Davis. I really do. He’s one of my favorite guys. He’s always calling and doing things. But what he said, he should never say anywhere in the world. And that ticked me off,” Izzo said. “I’m gonna have to call him tomorrow and tell him what I thought of it. And you know what he’ll say? ‘I screwed up, coach. I’m sorry.’
“So he kind of got after the official and he was 150% wrong. And for a guy like me to 150 percent agree with the official, it’s almost illegal.”
Izzo declined to state exactly what Davis said to Henderson.
“Let’s not get carried away,” Izzo said. “It wasn’t something racial, it wasn’t something sexual. It was just the wrong thing to say, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Davis played for Izzo and the Spartans from 2002 through 2006, a span that included a Final Four appearance and another run that ended in the Elite Eight. He currently ranks in Michigan State’s all-time top 10 in several statistical categories, including scoring, rebounds, field goal percentage and free throws made (statistics for all four categories go back to 1966).
Selected by the Clippers in the second round of the 2006 draft, Davis played three years in Los Angeles and one more season with the Washington Wizards before continuing his career in Europe through 2016.
Michigan State did not immediately respond to questions from The Times as to whether there would be any further repercussions for Davis following the incident. But Izzo indicated he wants his former star player back supporting the team.
“I want to tell him he was wrong, like I’d tell my son, my daughter, like I would my player, like I would myself,” Izzo said. “But I don’t want to — I need Paul Davis here. Paul Davis is a very important part of this program because he went through tough times when he was here and he’s really been a good advocate of telling kids how they got to, you know, deal with the process.
“So I’ll go with Paul. He just made a mistake tonight.”