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Tom Izzo is a well-known college basketball coach who’s led his teams to over 45 NCAA Tournament wins in his 26 years coaching at Michigan State. People recognize him everywhere he goes because of what he brings to the Spartan team. But, many fans don’t know much about his personal life. Is Izzo married and does he have kids?

Is Tom Izzo married?

Tom Izzo has been married since 1992 to Lupe Marinez. The pair met in East Lansing back when Tom was an assistant coach to Jud Heathcote of Michigan State. Lupe wasn’t sure she wanted to date him at first; both of them were busy people. 

Tom had his coaching gig and she was successfully running a water purification business at the time. Lupe’s mom, however, asked her to give it a shot, so the two found time to go out on their first date. They’ve been together ever since. 

Tom and Lupe got married and they were blessed with a daughter two years later, whom they named Raquel. Another two years go by, and they adopt another child, this time a son named Steven, who’s six years younger than Racquel. 

What’s it like being married to Tom Izzo?

Lupe knew what life would be like as the first lady of Michigan State, as she’s come to be called. After their first date, Tom convinced her to attend a Spartans game, which, as it turns out, was the Big Ten Championship against Purdue that year, according to Celebrities Folder. 

That was enough to prepare her for what was to come. The family had to share Tom with all of the Spartans fans out there. Lupe and the kids made many sacrifices over the years. Tom worked long hours, sometimes traveling to recruit new players and missing out on meals and other family activities as Spartan Nation reports.

Lupe has kept busy herself, running her businesses and raising their kids while Tom coaches. She’s also been active in various charity events, like Coaches Versus Cancer. Of course, now, the family is even closer, since Steven joined the Spartan basketball team as a player. 

Izzo’s basketball coaching career at Michigan State University

Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans and his wife, Lupe, celebrate a win
Michigan State Spartans basketball coach Tom Izzo celebrates a 2009 win with his wife, Lupe, and the team | Andy Lyons/Getty Images
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The 66-year-old became the head coach for the Spartans in 1995, according to M Live. Tom has had plenty of opportunities to go elsewhere and make life easier for his family, but, with their support, he stays in East Lansing, Michigan, because he loves it. 

In his long career, Tom has taken his team to eight final four games and one NCAA championship (2000). However, the Spartans have advanced to the NCAA Tournament every year since 1998. The last time they got to the big game was 2009 when they came out as runner-ups. 

As the Spartans’ head coach, Tom pulled in $3.92 million as his base annual salary. Due to the pandemic, however, he took a 7% cut to his salary, which brought him down to $3.6 million. That’s a pretty nice chunk of change for all the hard work he puts in at Michigan State.

Tom is the star, but his wife and kids are legends, too. They share Tom not only with the sport of basketball but with the Spartan fans, too. Even though he gets recognized everywhere he goes, they can usually move about in public without the same fanfare. 

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