Tom Izzo is reportedly very close to leaving Michigan State for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Let’s track this story over the last 24 hours:

Wednesday

* Waiting for Next Year, a sports blog, claimed that Tom Izzo told his players he was leaving for the Cavaliers.
* Dick Vitale proclaimed Izzo wasn’t leaving.
* Seth Davis of CBS Sports/Sports Illustrated, shat on WFNY’s report.
* The Detroit News reported that Izzo turned down the Bulls last week.
* WFNY, now under heat from all angles – noted college hoops reporters Gary Parrish of CBS Sports and Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports both said Izzo had talked to his players, but didn’t say he was leaving – backtracked a bit to say Izzo was thinking about leaving. [This upset Seth Davis, again.]

Thursday

* Cleveland Plain-Dealer report: “Michigan State players left a meeting with Izzo Tuesday night believing he was going to take the Cavs’ job.”

[We're not going to waste or time trying to guess WFNY's source, but here's a scenario: You've got two players who walk out of that meeting. Player one is crushed because he got the impression - from Izzo's tone or demeanor or whatever - that it was over, a done deal. Player two was upset because he got the impression Izzo was very close to going. What if player one talked to the blog and player two talked to the Plain-Dealer? And the assistant coaches, all who think Izzo wouldn't possibly leave such a great program, are talking to reporters?]

* ESPN’s Andy Katz, very recently, reported: “Tom Izzo is apparently closer to saying yes to the Cleveland Cavaliers than previously thought, a source told ESPN.com’s Andy Katz on Thursday.”

In conclusion: Give it a few more hours. Once Izzo is done meeting with the Cavs, hopefully he’ll make a choice. We think he’ll stay in East Lansing.

[Photo: Getty]