Graham Couch | Lansing State Journal

EAST LANSING – Tom Izzo described himself as “sad” over the FBI probe that’s shaken college basketball this week.

I don’t believe him.

Izzo was unusually careful with his words Friday afternoon, just before the first official practice of a highly anticipated 2017-18 Michigan State basketball season. I’ve seen Izzo sad before. I’ve seen him angry and annoyed and worried and joyful. He does not hide his emotions well.

Izzo might be disappointed in his profession, as he also said Friday, disheartened that the federal government found the need to wiretap assistant coaches and agents and other characters involved in shady deals with recruits and players. Izzo is not sad, though.

There is a part of him, I think, that wishes the FBI had gotten involved 30 years earlier, when he was recruiting against Michigan and Illinois and others as an assistant to Jud Heathcote. Maybe these FBI findings of bribery and corruption are Jud’s work from beyond the grave. There is part of Izzo that must wonder if he might have landed another one-and-done caliber player in recent years if the FBI had jumped in a decade ago. Maybe he’d have another national title.

Maybe Gene Keady would have reached a Final Four. John Beilein might have a national championship banner. Perhaps Bruce Weber would still be coaching at Illinois, having landed a couple of big-time Chicago recruits. Maybe Sam Gilbert would be all we remember about John Wooden.

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For the clean coaches in college basketball, what transpired this week — 10 arrests, four assistant coaches included, Rick Pitino ousted at Louisville, dozens of programs (and even shoe companies) suddenly living in fear — must be surreal. The good guys never win.

“I don't think anybody has their arms around it yet or the depth of it or what actually is going on,” Izzo said Friday. “It's hard to do anything or accuse anybody of anything until you really know what is going on.”

Izzo knows what’s going on. So does every head coach and assistant in this game. In modern times, the cheating is no longer done with big-donor bag men. It’s usually funneled through agents and shoe companies. Adidas is already part of this FBI probe. Nike could be next. By the time MSU plays at the Phil Knight Invitational in November, Converse might be tournament’s the new sponsor.

Chris Solari/Detroit Free Press

“Some of these things that they print and write that are already etched in stone, those things aren't good,” Izzo said. “Why they're happening, I've got my own reasons on some things that have happened. They're just getting more and more out of control. If this reels us back and makes us relook at some things and figure out what our summers are like and how we can get things better for both the players and coaches and everyone else, then there’s a benefit for us.”

One long-time Division I assistant coach this week estimated that 50 college programs are nervous right now. Some have one guilty guy on the staff. On some, the head coach is among them.

“I really hope it means that the good guys, the rule-followers, get their just due,” he wrote in a text message. “And the AAU (scene) will chill. Some of the high school coaches will gain a little more power. It helps the entire recruiting world because now kids will go where they should, and local schools will get their kids more often.”

Then he wrote, “Great day for guys like me!”

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Former DePaul associate head coach Rick Carter said, “I would say all head coaches are thinking right now, you have to reevaluate your staff. Now some will sleep better than others, but you better have a meeting today and ask each guy point-blank, ‘Do you have any connections to this mess?”

Izzo, I’m sure, is less nervous than most. I wouldn’t pretend to know any coach well enough to say with certainty they’ve never dabbled in a grey area in recruiting. But he’s built his reputation on being clean. He’s openly proud of that reputation. Carter, once a graduate assistant for Izzo, put it bluntly: “Izzo doesn’t cheat. I would put my soul on that.”

College basketball recruiting is filthy business at the highest level. That’s our fault. Our intense love for alma mater prioritizes winning at all costs. Coaches get three years to win. Athletic directors get one hire. Assistant coaches are judged by their ability to lure talent. We set this market with our expectations.

Mike Carter / USA TODAY Sports

Izzo has only landed a few of these recruits who are worth sizable chunks cash on the black market. He’s built his program mostly on that next tier of kid. When he’s come close to getting a top-10 prospect, unless the player is from Michigan or certain parts of the Midwest where his brand can compete with the blue bloods (and perhaps some green), he’s usually struck out.

In terms of high-end recruits, Izzo’s never had it better than he does now, with sophomore Miles Bridges and freshman Jaren Jackson Jr., surrounded by a host of next-tier prospects.

There are undoubtedly a lot of programs that — before this week — would have been willing to offer a lot to put together a roster of this caliber.

“This is a new frontier,” Izzo said of the FBI probe. “I’ve never seen, really in a long, long time — I wasn’t around with the gambling of many many years ago when the federal government (got) involved.

“Right now, I’m just going to focus in on our team, I’m going to focus in on what we can do today in practice, I’m going to focus in on that football game (Saturday) and see where that takes us.”

I think Izzo is eager to see some long-time recruiting rivals get what he thinks they deserve. Or at least for them to recruit against him on an even plane.