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EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Tom Izzo is headed into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, a highlight in a sad stretch of the Michigan State coachs life that included the loss of his father. The Spartans were also a rare first-round loser in the NCAA Tournament.Its been a bizarre year, Izzo said in an interview with The Associated Press. There have been a lot of ups and downs. Going into the Hall of Fame isnt something I even dreamed about so its hard to think about what it will be like until I get there.Izzo will be inducted Friday night in a class that includes Allen Iverson, Shaquille ONeal, Yao Ming and Sheryl Swoopes.Magic Johnson said Izzo and ONeal asked him to present them, but the Hall of Fame point guard had to decline because he and his wife made plans a year ago to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary this weekend.Johnson said it was heartbreaking, to pass on the invitation.What I really love about Tom is, hes made it a family affair at Michigan State, Johnson, who led the Spartans to a national title in 1979 with coach Jud Heathcote, Izzos mentor, told The AP. Every player, whether they played for him or not, always comes back. Hes made it a program that now, year in and year out, were always contending not just for the Big Ten championship, but also for a national championship.Izzo, who will be presented by Gary Williams, won the 2000 NCAA title and has made six other Final Four appearances, the last in 2015. He has won five Big Ten regular season and five conference tournament championships in his 21-season career. His 524 wins trail only Bob Knight at Indiana for most victories at a Big Ten school.Carl Izzo died at the age of 90 in December, about three months before Middle Tennessee State stunned second-seeded Michigan State in one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history.Izzos 90-year-old mother, Dorothy, plans to attend the induction ceremony in Springfield, Massachusetts.Heathcote, who pushed for his little-known assistant to succeed him in 1995, said he will not be able to make the trip.When we won a championship with Magic early in my career, I thought we would get back to the Final Four to win some more, Heathcote said in a telephone interview Wednesday. But we were there for 16 more years and never got back. Thats what makes what Tom has done unbelievable to me.Believe it or not, those who know Izzo best predict the honor of being inducted will be far from a final achievement for him.I think its only going to make him work harder, said former NBA standout Steve Smith, the first player Izzo recruited to Michigan State as an assistant coach. Hell create doubters and haters in his head that will push him to prove he belongs in the Hall of Fame.Izzo didnt argue the point.I still think I have a lot of desire to win, he said. My mentors, including my dad, Jud and Nick Saban, and even Vince Lombardi when I was growing up, showed how you should work hard to be successful year after year after year. I feel like I still have a lot to do.After taking part in Hall of Fame-related festivities Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Izzo planned to fly back to the Midwest to recruit on Sunday.He is expected to have a good team, maybe not a great one, after losing some standouts, including Player of the Year Denzel Valentine.Coach is a high-class person and a blue-collar guy, who worked his way up and does things the right way and thats why everyone looks up to him, said Valentine, who was drafted in the first round by the Chicago Bulls. And whats great is, I have known him since I was 5 or 6 and used to go the games and he has stayed the same during good times and bad.---Follow Larry Lage at www.twitter.com/larrylage and follow his work at www.bigstory.ap.org/content/larry-lage Thurman Thomas Bills Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Doug Flutie Youth Jersey . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. http://www.shoptheofficialbills.com/Elite-Andre-Roberts-Bills-Jersey/ . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Doug Flutie Jersey . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. Doug Flutie Bills Jersey . "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Kerri Walsh Jennings, one of the greatest players in beach volleyball history, won gold medal after gold medal after gold medal, in a few pretty interesting Olympic settings.Playing with then-partner Misty May-Treanor, Walsh Jennings won her first gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where the announcer proudly told the rocking crowd he would never utter the words Silence please! She and May-Treanor won gold again in Beijing in 2008, when they even had a practice session with then-President George Bush. The pair won a third gold at London in 2012, when they played next to the prime ministers residence at No. 10 Downing Street, and while Walsh Jennings was pregnant with her third child.But playing at a superb venue on a real beach at Copacabana, where the Brazilians have an enormous passion for the sport, Walsh Jennings will not win a fourth gold medal. Instead, she and playing partner April Ross will play for her first bronze medal after losing a two-set match against Brazilians Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas.Passing poorly and making a number of mistakes, the Americans lost in straight sets, 22-20 and 21-18. It was the first loss in any Olympic beach volleyball match for Walsh Jennings (26-1).It was rocky, Walsh Jennings said of the match. You have to pass the ball to win matches, and I dont know how many aces per game they got on me and thats just unacceptable and inexcusable. Ive been served [at] this whole tournament aggressively and we handled it in every other situation, and its really disappointing and heartbreaking not to do it in this situation tonight.You cant do anything without a pass. Thats what set the tone and we never got our mojo together or anything else.Asked what it was like to beat Walsh Jennings, Bednarczuk responded: Its crazy! I dont even realize what it means yet. After we finish the Olympic Games, well think about this because now we have to think about the next game.While Bednarczuks team plays for gold, Walsh Jennings and Ross will pllay Brazils Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes.dddddddddddd Before the semifinal matches, many would have expected those two teams to play for the gold. Instead, one will settle for bronze and the other will get nothing.Walsh Jennings and Ross became a team shortly after May-Treanor retired following the London Olympics (she and Walsh Jennings had beaten Ross and her playing partner, Jen Kessy, in the gold-medal match). They were the favorite to win Tuesday after winning all their previous matches here and also having beaten Bednarczuk and Seixas in other tournaments.We could squash that team, and we have in the past, Walsh Jennings said. I say that with so much respect for them -- theyre very, very good. Tonight they rose to the occasion. I certainly did not and there is no excuse for it. It was just terrible execution.With a packed stadium chanting a