The road to the NBA is littered with corpses of college coaches who thought that they could make the transition to the pros.  Tim Floyd, Rick Pitino, John Calapari, Mike Montgomery and Lon Kruger are just some of those that thought that they could slay the dragon.  Instead, the dragon incinerated them into unrecognizable dust.

It is very hard to go from college coaching to the NBA.  And that's why Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, while perhaps tempted, made the absolute best call possible to stay put.  Stay at a job where you have almost total control.  Stay at a job where if a player doesn't work out or play hard or follow rules you yank his scholarship, not eat his contract.  Stay at a job where there is no salary cap (except at USC).

The good thing about Tom Izzo that being a Midwesterner, he understands that sometimes the grass isn't necessarily greener.  While some might find him gun shy, others applaud the fact that the man doesn't want to carry around the same albatross as some of his contemporaries who left the safety of college basketball and gambled on the NBA.  You can look at Rick Pitino, John Calapari and perhaps Tim Floyd and say "They are good coaches, but they sure had trouble in the NBA."  Izzo no longer has to worry about that since he decided not to go to Cleveland.

Sure, the coach who wins a championship in Cleveland will be a hero who could pretty much write his own ticket, but Izzo is smart enough to know that coaching at Michigan State isn't a bad gig.  Sure, the money is better in the association, but when you add up what Izzo makes at MSU between his base salary, his camps and his endorsements, it is not an uncomfortable way to make a living.  Plus, Izzo will be, if he so chooses, coach for life at MSU as opposed to two and done in Cleveland.

Some coaches do things because of the challenge, others because they want to breathe life into a franchise others for the paycheck or the glory.  This is all fine and good, but your reputation takes a huge hit when you fail miserably.  Tom Izzo knows when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em and that going to Cleveland, with or without Labron was a huge gamble.  I don't think Izzo is scared at all, I think he is shrewd enough to recognize a house of cards when he sees it and to have the guts to walk, if not sprint away from it..