For the second time in two years, Tom Izzo is losing a top Michigan State basketball assistant.
Spartans associate head coach Dwayne Stephens has agreed to become the next head coach at Western Michigan after spending the past 19 seasons on Izzo’s staff, according to a report from CBS Sports.
A message to Stephens was not immediately returned.
It will be the first head coaching position for the Stephens, 50, a Ferndale native who has been a candidate for multiple positions over the past two decades.
Stephens played for the Spartans from 1989-93, then joined the coaching staff in 2003 after a four-year stint as an assistant coach at Marquette under former Izzo assistant Tom Crean that included an appearance in the 2003 Final Four.