While Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans were gearing up for their Sweet 16 matchup against Ole Miss last season, the NCAA transfer portal officially opened. However, Izzo was focused on the team's upcoming game and progress in the tournament.A clip of Izzo's past interview was posted by ESPN's Paul Biancardi on Saturday. Izzo made it clear that his attention was on preparing his current team, and not scouting for potential transfer portal additions."What my team's done has been incredible," Izzo said. "And I'm not ready to move on. ... I'm going to worry today about the guys I got in this program, that have done an incredible job this year, and that's it. And if that costs me later, so be it. But Tom Izzo isn't cheating the people that he has that have been loyal to him for this chaos that is going on out there." View this post on Instagram Instagram PostIzzo stressed that his focus at that time was solely on winning the Sweet 16 matchup, then the Elite Eight and, if all went according to plan, the championship. He also voiced his frustration over the transfer portal opening in the middle of the tournament, calling the timing unfair."There was nothing on my mind but giving these guys a chance to win one more game, get to Elite Eight, and one more game, and have a memory that will last their entire life, their kid's life, and their grandkid's life," Izzo said. "So excuse me for being passionate about it or pissed off about it, but I'm not gonna talk about it because it's not fair."Izzo's Spartans went on to defeat Ole Miss in the Sweet 16, securing a hard-fought 73-70 victory. Their run, however, came to an end in the Elite Eight, where they lost 70-64 to Auburn.Tom Izzo once threw shots against his criticsWhen it comes to recruiting, Michigan State Spartans coach Tom Izzo has not always been the biggest fan of the transfer portal. However, he's come to accept it and has even brought in several players through the portal.Speaking at a press conference in April, Izzo addressed his recruiting approach, pushing back against critics who claim he's unwilling to embrace the portal."Those of you that write, or say, or listen to people say, 'Izzo doesn't want to get in the transfer portal. Izzo doesn't want players getting paid.' I mean, we're in the transfer portal, we've been in the transfer portal," Izzo said on April 17 (Timestamp: 12:16). "We pay players a lot more than most of you know and a lot less of what's going on out there."Ahead of the 2025-26 season, Izzo has brought in four players via the transfer portal: Trey Fort from Samford, Kaleb Glenn from Florida Atlantic, Divine Ugochukwu from Miami and Denham Wojcik from Harvard. He also has two incoming freshmen: Cam Ward and Jordan Scott.