Izzo participates in Infiniti Coaches’ Charity Challenge

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While the MSU men’s basketball team is gaining momentum on the court — having won seven of its last eight games — head coach Tom Izzo could use some of that momentum off the court.

Izzo is one of 48 coaches across the country competing in the Infiniti Coaches’ Charity Challenge, a competition in which fans vote online for their favorite coaches with the winning coach earning $100,000 for their chosen charity. Coaches are divided into four regions with 12 coaches in each, and the coach that earns the highest percentage of votes in each region will advance to the finals.

The challenge has grown from 14 coaches last season to 48 this year.

Izzo is competing in the Midwest region along with five other Big Ten coaches and held 4 percent of the vote as of Sunday afternoon. Ohio State coach Thad Matta led the region with 43 percent of the vote. Regional voting ends Feb. 27.

The charity Izzo has selected is Coaches vs. Cancer, a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches to help in the fight against cancer through various fundraisers and advocacy programs, said Evelyn Barella, media relations specialist for the American Cancer Society, in an email.

“Because cancer has touched so many of our nation’s basketball coaches, Coaches vs. Cancer offers them the unique opportunity to fight the disease,” Barella said.

Including Izzo, 14 coaches have chosen Coaches vs. Cancer as their charity in the challenge.

MSU Athletics Director Mark Hollis said although Izzo is involved in many philanthropic efforts, Coaches vs. Cancer is a charity that he and his wife, Lupe Izzo, have chosen to become heavily engaged in rather than supporting multiple smaller charities.

Hollis said despite Coaches vs. Cancer being a national charity, the organization uses funds to help people in the same community where they were raised.

“(Izzo will) take every minute that he’s not coaching or recruiting or spending time with his children to make a difference in people’s lives,” he said.

Biological science sophomore Dan Totzkay said he thinks it’s a good idea for the challenge to use MSU and Izzo’s prestige to attract votes, although he would prefer different voting methods for the challenge other than online voting.

“That’s pretty much how mass communication has been working,” Totzkay said. “I feel like there should be other ways of doing it.”

Hollis said Izzo’s commitment to charity and community outreach sometimes requires Hollis to remind Izzo that the coach’s job is still to focus on winning games.

“It’s hard for coach Izzo to say no to anyone,” Hollis said. “(For) virtually every organization in this town, Tom and Lupe (Izzo) have had some level of interaction, whether it be the driving fo-rce or an appearance that made an event special.”

The challenge winner will be announced on March 9. Visit
promo.espn.go.com/espn/contests/infiniti/2012/ to vote for Izzo.

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