"I said, 'Why don't you call me when you don't have a girlfriend?'": When Tom Izzo's wife Lupe spilled the beans on how the couple first met

Tom Izzo has been a force for Michigan State's basketball program for 30 years, winning an NCAA title, 11 Big Ten conference championships and more than 350 games. However, before establishing a winning career in college basketball, the coach had to win over his future wife, Lupe Marinez Izzo.

The two revealed an interesting story while speaking to Graham Bensinger in a 2022 interview. Lupe recalled being at one of the Spartans' coach's parties with a friend and giving him the cold shoulder because of his relationship status. She recalled that even when Izzo called her, she rejected him:

"He called me one time and I said, 'I hear you have a girlfriend.' He goes, 'Well, yeah there is someone I'm seeing,'" she said (at 1:28). "Okay, I said, 'Why don't you call me sometime when you don't have a girlfriend,' and I just left it at that and I hung up on him, yeah."

Tom Izzo gave his take to conclude the story, saying that it only added to his long list of rejections. Nevertheless, Izzo and Lupe ran into each other a few times after the phone call.

Marinez Izzo gave the MSU coach a real chance after the coach offered her a few tickets for the Big Ten championship game against Purdue and insisted she bring a date. With a little push by her mother, she made it to the arena with her eight-year-old nephew Dylan.

Since then, it has become a tradition for the Izzo household to have Lupe in the same seats alongside her nephew:

"Now, she sits in the same exact seats in the last game of the year with him, who's now 40," Izzo said.

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Tom Izzo wins his fourth Big Ten Coach of the Year award

Tom Izzo had ended the 12-year rut of missing out on the Big Ten Coach of the Year award, winning the fourth conference honor of his career for the 2024-25 season. At 70 years old, he also becomes the oldest coach to grab the honor.

Izzo led Michigan State to a 26-5 record his season, including wins over North Carolina, Purdue, Maryland and other top programs.

"It has been strength in numbers," Izzo said on Sunday about the team's successful year. "We had to do something different than most. I didn't do it my way – we all know I've had more talent and haven't played as many at times, although we've always played quite a few."

The next challenge for the Spartans is the Big Ten conference tournament. Being the top seed, Michigan State has earned a bye game and will begin play on Mar. 14 against either Indiana or Oregon. The last time Tom Izzo lifted the conference trophy was in 2019.