Michigan State University men's basketball coach Tom Izzo came to Fort Wayne on Wednesday, shook some hands, passed around some smiles and laid down some no-nonsense opinions.

Since we're an accommodating bunch in the Hoosier State media, we let him talk for a good 40 seconds about the purpose of his visit (a Big Brothers Big Sisters banquet) before asking him the good stuff.

What about Tom Crean?

Is he going to win at Indiana?

How soon? How much?

“Let's face it, he's got a tough job ahead of him,” Izzo said. “But what a great place to do it. I have all the respect in the world for IU. I'd have been an IU fan if it wasn't for where I am. He's going to do a great job. You'll love him as a coach and as a guy and I think he'll put a good product on the floor.”

Izzo visited Fort Wayne as featured speaker at the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana 35th annual Gourmet Dinner at the Fort Wayne Country Club. In a pre-banquet session with the media, he was his usual engaging self. He answered questions forthrightly, touching on a number of subjects. Naturally, Crean leaving Marquette to take over as IU coach was a major topic.

Izzo and Crean worked together under Jud Heathcote at Michigan State, and Izzo later brought Crean back as one of his assistants when he took over for Heathcote. The two remain close friends.

“I'm so proud of Tommy, and I hope he wins all but two games a year,” Izzo said.

Some people look at the Indiana roster and wonder if Crean might be hard-pressed to get to two wins total his first year.

Crean will have to rely on a number of freshmen, and they won't be the biggest of the big-name recruits. IU's two highest-rated recruits switched to other schools after Kelvin Sampson agreed to leave as coach. Crean has since cleaned house of most of Sampson's players.

Izzo said he was a vocal advocate for Crean to take over at Indiana.

“This year is going to be tough,” Izzo said. “You just never know (about) freshmen. Sometimes they get energy and get rolling. Sometimes they get frustrated and really have trouble. I don't know how that will work out.

“I'd be willing to bet his team will play better than they're capable of playing (in most people's eyes).”

Among the other issues Izzo addressed:

♦The rule restricting players from joining the NBA Draft until a year after they've been out of high school. Izzo argues players should be able to jump directly to the pros, but should also be required to stay three years if they attend college before joining the draft.

“Let the LeBron James (talent) come out and the rest should stay for three years,” Izzo said. “It's hard for them to have fun in college with the constant pressure on ‘when I'm coming out.' “

♦The recent spate of recruiting violations, such as those uncovered in the USC/O.J. Mayo case.

“Cheating's getting worse,” Izzo said. “Everybody feels they have to get a player for a year and win big. …It's kind of too fast of a track right now, if you ask me.”

♦Players transferring from school to school. Izzo visited on the day former Purdue player Scott Martin announced he was transferring to Notre Dame.

“(Recruiting) is a difficult process and now we're getting into so many kids transferring,” Izzo said. “It's almost like if you don't have (immediate) success in high school, go to a different team. If you don't have success with your AAU team, change to a different team. If you don't have success in college, change teams. It's not reality.”

♦Coaching against, and recruiting against, friends such as Crean.

“Nothing's perfect, but I'd rather go against somebody I know is going to be honest and upfront and not cheating,” Izzo said, “than going against some of the people we have to go against in this profession.”

After he talked to the media, Izzo interacted with the young children who were part of the dinner, taking questions, such as how many games he's won and who were his best players. He mentioned Zach Randolph and Jason Richardson.

One youngster asked, “Why is there a Michigan and a Michigan State?”

“I've wondered that too,” Izzo said. “I think we should just get rid of Michigan.”

Now that's the kind of honesty you want in a basketball coach.