EAST LANSING >> The transfer portal for NCAA men’s basketball officially opened Monday. Ask Tom Izzo though, and he’d say it opened as far back as September.

As Izzo and his No. 2 seed Spartans ready for Friday night’s Sweet 16 matchup against No. 9 Mississippi at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, the opening of the portal is one more distraction for the teams remaining in the field. At the most important time of the season for his program, Izzo says he is choosing to focus on his current team rather than look at the portal.

“I’m disgusted by the fact that we even have to deal with this at this time,” Izzo said Tuesday. “And last year, the NCAA — or whoever’s making these rules — had it the first day after Selection Sunday. So while everybody was celebrating that they got picked to go to the NCAA Tournament, we have this going on. (There’s) something wrong with us if we’re doing that.”

This year, the transfer portal window not only moved back a week right into the middle of the tournament, but it was also shortened from 45 days to 30 days. It closes April 22, just 15 days after the national championship game.

More than 700 reported players who were in the portal on the first day it opened. Some of those players were grad transfers and players whose coaches were fired, both parties who could enter before Monday. Among the new entrees: Michigan guard Justin Pippen, who entered the portal Monday while his team is headed to Atlanta to face No. 1 seed Auburn.

In reality, Izzo says, the portal has been open far longer in function because of the rampant issue of programs contacting players during the season. The difference is now the not-so-secret secrets of portal recruiting — or in reality, “offering” or “paying” — can be brought to light in public reports.

“It started when the season started,” Izzo said. “We got schools recruiting kids right up. We got agents talking to kids on teams every day of the year. So that’s what the average person doesn’t realize. This transfer portal opened yesterday? It didn’t even make it legal because nobody cared. There are no rules. It just meant that you guys (media) think it’s opened.”

In part, Izzo isn’t delving into the portal yet out of practicality.

He doesn’t know how many spots his program will have for players — “maybe we’d have one. If everybody came back, maybe we wouldn’t.” He also doesn’t know how much of a budget he’ll have. He can’t make any promises without that data.

More significantly, Izzo isn’t looking at the portal because of what he holds as fundamental principles. He feels it’s wrong to seek out a better player in the portal when he already has a roster full of committed players.

“These guys that gave me everything they could give me are gonna have a chance, and I’m not going to screw it up by spending any time on other stuff,” Izzo said. “You know, I don’t sleep right now. So why the hell would I do something else that might benefit me a year from now — and really, it’s not going to benefit me now, because I don’t know what I have, I don’t know how much money I have, I don’t know which players are leaving or staying. I don’t have any idea. So why would I do that? Waste of time.”

Why does Izzo feel this way? When he was a young assistant working for Jud Heathcote long before the transfer portal, he used to spend lots of time on the recruiting trail looking for players. Heathcote wasn’t a fan of it.

“He’d say, ‘You know, the problem with you new young guys is you’re always trying to replace the guys you got instead of making the guys you got better,” Izzo recalled. “‘Is that fair to the guys you got that you’re out spending time on somebody else and you’re not taking care of them?’

“… If you’re loyal to your players and they want to get better, then your obligation is to the people that you brought here. Now, if they don’t want to get better or they aren’t doing their job, nowadays there won’t be as many people that are hanging on to people. … There’ll be more run-offs. Could happen here, could happen somewhere else. But the last thing I want to do is cheat my players.”

Michigan State is preparing for its 16th Sweet 16 under Izzo’s coaching, the first since 2023. This year’s roster had less star power than the bulk of those other accomplished teams, but it had an abundance of depth that formed a cohesive unit. In a Big Ten made tougher by expansion, the Spartans won 17 conference games to set a school record and won the Big Ten championship by three games. Only two players on this year’s roster came from the transfer portal. The other 14 joined as recruits.

“We always talk about what’s fair to the kids,” Izzo said. “That’s what the NCAA (says), that’s what everybody — that’s the media, what’s fair to the kids. What is fair to the kids? I’m gonna do what’s fair to the kids. I’m gonna give them every ounce of energy I have, until we lose. Then I’ll worry about the next stage.”