Tom Izzo offers emotional two-word response after ex-4-star center entered transfer portal

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has been around college basketball long enough to know when he has a special player in his program.

The latest example of this was former Spartans center Xavier Booker, who opted to transfer to UCLA April 4. But for Izzo, he said he wishes he could have helped Booker stick around East Lansing after showing flashes of prominence, despite averaging 4.7 points and 2.2 rebounds per game this past season.

“Book, um – in Book? Make sure you take this right now. Um, I failed," Izzo told reporters last Thursday in an off-season availability.

Izzo said his failure in Booker was simply not providing him with the resources necessary to compete at the highest level, whether it was impact practice time or putting him in situations to become a primary scoring option during games to offset the likes of then-guard Tre Holloman, among others.

"As a student-athlete, he’s done an unbelievable job," Izzo said. "It, just – I couldn’t get enough out of him. That’s not all his fault. That’s my job. I do get paid for that and I did not get enough out of him."

Izzo credited Booker for staying diligent to the program's values, as he had consistent meetings with Izzo about more than basketball. Although Izzo no longer coaches him, he said Booker has yet to reach his full potential and is excited to watch his career hopefully blossom. 

"I feel bad about Book because I think, deep down, there is a one hell of a basketball player in there and my job is to get that out of them and I didn’t get that done," Izzo added. "So, I have to take responsibility for it, too. If I asked Book to be here morning, noon, and night, Book was here morning, noon, and night. I asked him to improve academically, with his strength, with this, with that. Book did it all. It just didn’t translate into some things and that’s my job.”

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Izzo will have to move on, and maybe based on how the landscape of college basketball changes, the two will cross paths once more.

For now, the off-season carries on as usual.