EAST LANSING – Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo is staying.

The school announced Tuesday night that the long-time coach has decided against jumping to the pros to coach Cleveland.

The Cavaliers had offered Izzo a five-year, $30 million contract to coach the team and perhaps the best player in the game in LeBron James, if Cleveland could re-sign him.

Word of his decision began to leak out earlier in the day on Tuesday, but the official announcement came at an evening press conference.

“It’s been an agonizing week as I tried to make a decision about a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Izzo said in a statement released to the media. “I apologize for the time the process has taken, but sometimes there are opportunities that come about that must be thoroughly examined. I’m no different than any other successful coach in that I’ve had multiple inquiries before, but this one was uniquely intriguing.

“There was a lot of information to gather and consider and some of it wasn’t easily obtainable. But when making a life decision, I owed it to myself and my family to do my due diligence. From that I never wavered. And I’m pleased to say I am here for life at Michigan State,” he added.

Michigan State athletics director Mark Hollis said that Izzo is more to the school and its fans than just a basketball coach.

“He positively impacts everything he touches, much of which is outside the job description of coaching basketball,” he said. “With traits such as hard work, dedication, perseverance and attention to detail, he’s a symbol of what we should possess as we work together for the financial recovery of our great state. During difficult times, the people of our state turn our focus to these kinds of people … Joe Louis, Al Kaline, Barry Sanders, Bo Schembechler, Steve Yzerman, Magic Johnson and Tom Izzo. Coach Izzo is a natural resource of the state of Michigan.”

MSU president Lou Anna K. Simon was also pleased that he was staying put.

“I personally want to thank the many people who expressed their faith in and support of Tom through spontaneous grassroots appeals,” she said. “I also want to acknowledge the great leadership of Mark Hollis throughout the process.

“Tom’s integral role and respect at MSU earned him the right to take the necessary time to reach his decision. Like others, I wanted the good news earlier, but the wait was worth it. Tom did what Tom does best: he devised a rigorous and thorough game plan that put him, his family, and this university in the best position to win. His decision is a winner for all of Team MSU, the state of Michigan, college basketball and intercollegiate athletics in general.

The Spartans are coming off another tremendous run in the NCAA tournament and with a strong recruiting class coming in, coupled with the players remaining from last season, Michigan State is being talked about already as one of the teams to beat in 2010-11.