It's unclear if Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo will be leading the Spartans to the Final Four in Detroit in 2027. But months before college basketball's biggest party, he is cheering the event, anyway.
Izzo spoke on a panel for the Detroit Economic Club at the Sound Board Theater at the Motor City Casino in Detroit on Wednesday, Oct. 14, alongside NCAA men's basketball senior vice president Dan Gavitt. The event, hosted by Brad Galli of "The Brad Galli Show," gathered business leaders from around the state and focused on the economic impact of Detroit hosting the 2027 NCAA Men's Final Four at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions.
Izzo touted Detroit's hosting of the Final Four as a sign of the city's renaissance since the 2008 financial
crisis and a bellwether for the state as a whole. Detroit last hosted the Final Four at Ford Field in 2009, during a time of severe economic hardship for the city.
"I look at it like this, I've said it 100 times. When the biggest city in your state is doing well, your state is doing better," Izzo said. "We've got to keep supporting it. This is good for our city. This is good for our state. This is good for college basketball.
"It's the greatest sports spectacle in the world. It really is on that weekend."
Former Michigan State basketball player Kalin Lucas, a Detroit native and starting point guard for the Spartans from 2007-11, sat beside Izzo and recounted his experience as part of the 2009 team's special run.
"It was very special during those times to be able to play in Ford Field and have a green and white jersey on in Detroit with the Final Four patch," Lucas said. "It was just a blessing, honestly, to be able to play in front of your city, play in front of these fans, and to be able to do something special."
Izzo recounted that 2009 run to Ford Field, which saw the Spartans beat UConn in the national semifinal before losing to North Carolina 89-72 in the final. Izzo said he understood the magnitude of the Spartans making the Final Four in the school's home state.
"That's when our state, our city, the car industry, '09, it was not a good time here," Izzo said. "And the whole battle cry was about getting back home, yes, home for Kalin, but home to our state because we thought we could have an economic value. We thought we could help the whole city, we could revive things."
Gavitt and Izzo both spoke on the advances the city has made since then, when the Spartans stayed in Troy, about 30 minutes north of Ford Field, instead of in Detroit.
"This next year, compared to 2009, is just so dramatically different," Gavitt said. "Back in '09 and subsequent years, the teams would not necessarily stay in the downtown area. Now, the teams are always prioritized to stay downtown in Detroit and Indianapolis last year so that they're close to the experience, close to the action, close to the venue."
Along with asking local business leaders to support the tournament, Izzo also took the opportunity to take verbal jabs at Gavitt and the NCAA, complaining about the referees in the 2009 tournament and joking about the state of fifth-year eligibility in college sports.
"I got a lot of new rules I can help you with," Izzo told Gavitt.
Detroit will also the 2027 NIT Championship at Detroit Mercy's Calihan Hall. And while Michigan State is the official host school for the 2027 NCAA Tournament, Izzo ended his appearance on the panel with an ambitious vision.
"Who knows? Maybe us and Michigan and Oakland and Detroit [Mercy] will all be in it, and we can have a hell of a party," he said.
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How 2027 Final Four in Detroit will differ drastically from 2009
