Spartan Basketball To Be Featured ON ESPN's SportsCenter
11/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo and the Spartan basketball program will be featured on the Monday night SportsCenter airing at midnight on ESPN as part of a week-long series entitled "Bilas on the Bench With:". Beginning on Sunday night, Nov. 17 and running through Friday, Nov. 22, ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas will go behind-the-scenes to present the different coaching techniques of six of college basketball's best coaches.
Other features include Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (Sunday), Maryland's Gary Williams (Tuesday), Kansas' Roy Williams (Wednesday), Arizona's Lute Olson (Thursday) and Oklahoma's Kelvin Sampson (Friday).
"It was a great opportunity for me to get even more in-depth with the way practices are conducted, and it certainly will be revealing to those who have not had that experience," Bilas said. "It's interesting to see each coach's philosophy, not only how they approach teaching, but also their varied strategies, from the way Coach Izzo sees the benefits of rebounding and defense to how Roy Williams emphasizes the running game and the fast break."
Bilas, who experienced practice as a former player and coach at Duke and as an international player, spent several days in gyms observing these coaches who were miked as they ran their teams through their personalized practices. Longer pieces on featured coaches will run during the season on ESPN's "College Hoops Tonight" and ESPN2's "College Hoops 2Night."
