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MINNEAPOLIS – No one could find Tom Izzo's backpack. Several Michigan State staff searched the locker room and the various connecting rooms. Izzo was holding the court with reporters, but he would stop speaking eventually – maybe? – how much he would need to leave the US bank stadium for good. But not without his bag.
Izzo had just trained his eighth national semifinal and had lost for the sixth time. So he knew what to expect once the final bell sounded at 10:07 PM. CT.
While head coach winner – Chris Beard of Texas Tech – was addressing the media this week, Izzo was in an adjacent hallway with two of his players, Cassius Winston and Matt McQuaid. Behind closed doors, in front of a table with soda cans and cups approved by the NCAA, they sat on a black leather sofa.
Just outside, those affiliated with Texas Tech, whose men's basketball program featured in their very first final, celebrated the 61-51 win.
"It's not a dream!" a person said.
On the platform, the moderator dismissed Beard: "Coach, we'll meet again tomorrow."
Izzo and his players took his place.
"In my career, we have very rarely been" overwhelmed, "Izzo said," and tonight was one of those nights. "
At 10:46, McQuaid sat on the bench facing the back of an E-Z-GO golf course and returned to the locker room. A media relations employee did most of the talking during the 100-meter run, smiling and tapping McQuaid in the back. McQuaid, a senior who had just played his last game at Michigan State, was staring at the carpet without expression.
Izzo continued to answer questions at the podium, saying he could quickly realize that the state of Michigan was in trouble and that he felt lucky not to be eliminated at half-time. He talked about the drought of the Big Ten title and the incredible filming of Matt Mooney.
He summed up the game in the simplest way: "They made games, we did not play games, we missed shots."
Back in the Michigan State locker room, the players were moderate but not sullen. There was little or no tears. The players handled the defeat with class, crediting Texas Tech and answering all the questions. Doug Herner, a long time employee, cuddled.
Freshman Gabe Brown opened a prepared meal, ignoring broccoli and rice to grab a bite of a burrito, to immediately question the choice. Nick Ward teased him about a particular defensive game in which Brown would have almost rolled his ankle. People who traveled without being distracted by the questions of the reporters scrolled through their phones.
Izzo appeared, asking anyone in particular, "Where am I going? "We have made the most of this team," he said, adding that "I had an amazing time this year."
Players left the locker room, sneakers in hand, commemorative posters coming out of their backpacks. Most had several days of security tags on their bags, of different colors for different days. They had hoped to add two more to the collection, but Texas Tech and Virginia deserved it.
Izzo emerged at 11:13 and took his place against a wall, a semicircle of journalists in front of him. Steve Mariucci, Izzo's good friend since his childhood at Iron Mountain, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, has introduced himself.
"Is that Izzo?" he asked, unable to see the coach in the middle of the scrum.
Wearing a Michigan State green sweatshirt, he explained that all but one team were leaving this tournament with disappointment. He was in Chicago when these Spartans won the Big Ten tournament. He did not go to Des Moines, Iowa, to win the first two NCAA tournaments, nor to Washington, DC for the regional. He wanted it, but a nephew was married last weekend.
"Who gets married in March?" he said.
Izzo continued to speak. "Boy, is he patient," said a security guard.
"Anything else, guys?" Asked a member of the media relations staff, hoping the answer would be no. But the questions did not stop and Izzo, as usual, just answered them.
After nearly 19 minutes of chatting outside the locker room and nearly 40 consecutive minutes of answers to questions, 85 minutes after the end of the match, he had finished.
The staff of the team still searching for his bag, Izzo noticed Mariucci, who raised his right arm. He always had the backpack of Izzo.
"I'll be your youngest," Mariucci joked as they walked down the hallway to the team bus, leaving the Final Four earlier than they had hoped.
It was a ride that Izzo knew too well.
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