Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo remembers creating the perfect sales pitch for Josh Jackson, the No. 1 prospect in the recruiting class of 2016 according to Rivals.com.
“I just got on my hands and knees and begged him. That’s what I did, and that wasn’t as good as Bill’s,” Izzo said Saturday at BOK Center, site of Sunday’s 4:15 p.m. second-round NCAA Tournament Midwest Region game between the ninth-seeded Spartans (20-14) and Jackson’s top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks (29-4).
“Was it sad and disappointing?” Izzo asked of losing Detroit native Jackson to KU coach Bill Self. “It was because I think it was a close fight to the finish.