EAST LANSING, Mich. — Jim Boylen leaves Michigan State for Utah as the NBA-seasoned tactician who received his final training the past two seasons under Tom Izzo.

He also happens to be the guy who rented a room in Izzo's apartment in the late '80s, working with Izzo on Jud Heathcote's Michigan State staff. That shouldn't be overlooked.

"When you think about those five years," Izzo said of Boylen's 1987-92 stint at MSU, "he has as much ownership in this program as anybody."

And now he'll try to build Utah's in much the same way. Tough, man-to-man defense that plays "inside out," with more interest in keeping people out of the paint than getting steals. An offense built around a thick catalog of halfcourt sets, many of them pick-and-roll variations Boylen absorbed in years under Rudy Tomjanovich with the Houston Rockets.

And rebounding, the Izzo staple. For years Michigan State has used offensive and defensive rebounds as scoring threats. The offensive board keeps possessions alive; the clean defensive board leads to the most overlooked aspect of Izzo's system — the fast break.

When MSU has the required personnel (it didn't this season), it runs relentlessly.

"Coach Izzo has very much an NBA style," Boylen said, "and that's why he's had guys be successful in the NBA."

NBA talk also will be a part of this program. Boylen spent 13 years as an assistant in the league. That fact made him an instant attraction on the recruiting trail when he returned to MSU in 2005, and it gave him instant credibility with MSU's players.

He did a lot of individual work with them, the guards and the bigs, using "NBA-type drills and workouts that we really liked," said MSU guard Drew Neitzel. These are some of the same things he used to do with guys like Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Charles Barkley, yet it may have been more gratifying with the college kids.

"In pro ball (the coaches) do more than we think, but I think he really appreciated not just working with guys," Izzo said of Boylen. "Here he helped guys grow, as people too, and I think he appreciated that."

And he learned some things. Boylen brought with him a lot of Tomjanovich offense and different approaches to game planning that Izzo adopted. He leaves with a renewed taste for recruiting — Boylen brought in one of MSU's top 2006 prospects, 7-footer Tom Herzog — and an appreciation for Izzo's motivational tactics.

"I learned about rebounding and about making players tougher," Boylen said of the past two seasons. "Some days I would give suggestions. And some days it was 'Shut up and let them do what they've done for years.'"