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Michigan State Spartans' head coach Tom Izzo gave a whole new meaning to the term "March Madness" when he publicly reprimanded his freshman forward Aaron Henry last Thursday. Izzo ripped into Henry for his mistakes during the first-round NCAA Tournament matchup between Michigan State and the Bradley Braves, and Izzo was even held back by senior guard Cassius Winston at one point.


Izzo's outburst has received backlash from people on both sides of the argument. There are those who feel Izzo crossed a line with his treatment of Henry, and those who feel that criticizing a coach for yelling at his players is "soft." Well, after Saturday night's airing of "SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt," it's pretty clear where he stands on the matter.

Van Pelt defended Izzo, arguing that coddling college students won't prepare them for the harsh realities of the real world. Van Pelt even went so far as to compare this story to the recent news of a college admission scandal involving Lori Loughlin, who played Aunt Becky on the sitcom “Full House."


Van Pelt also pointed out that the Michigan State players, both current and former, have staunchly stood up for Izzo here, including Henry himself. And this was essentially the crux of Van Pelt's argument: if the players aren't upset with Izzo, why is the media? 

Ultimately, this story perfectly encapsulates the sports media landscape in 2019. Both sides of an argument watched the same video and somehow came away with demonstrably different takes. 


Neither side is really in the wrong here, but Van Pelt pointed out that ranting and raving about it online won't accomplish anything. Frankly, it's hard to argue with that.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.