Izzo said there will be a time when he addresses the sexual abuse scandal, but not right nowGETTY IMAGES
Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo is "not going to let ESPN dictate the terms of how and when he answers their allegations" regarding the sexual abuse scandal impacting the school, according to Graham Couch of the LANSING STATE JOURNAL. Izzo has chosen to do a "standoff by stonewalling." In his postgame press conference following MSU's win over Penn State on Wednesday, he was asked questions regarding the scandal by ESPN's Michelle Steele. Izzo said, "There will be a time when I’ll be able to speak, but it isn’t right now." Couch notes on one hand, Izzo "owes his community answers and assurances that, over time, he hasn’t treated accusations of sexual assault or abuse toward women by his players with callous disregard." Couch: "I don’t blame him for not giving ESPN easy material for a story that it has turned into a television drama." Not with how ESPN has "behaved, including irresponsibly plastering the faces of Izzo and [MSU football coach Mark] Dantonio next to a picture of convicted serial sexual abuser Larry Nassar -- on the same television backdrop -- not-so-subtly conflating those two stories behind the headline, 'Crisis at Michigan State.'" There are voices elsewhere "calling for Izzo to answer the questions raised by the network." But there are not "other large media outlets pouncing on this story with the same sort of prosecutorial zeal." ESPN has put Izzo and Dantonio in the "center of this story without any direct allegations of wrongdoing" (LANSING STATE JOURNAL, 2/2). The AP's Larry Lage noted Izzo "looked as if he hadn't slept much if at all last week when he faced a sea of reporters and TV cameras following a home game against Wisconsin." But Wednesday night he "seemed to be at peace with deflecting questions he doesn't want to answer right now" (AP, 2/1).
WHAT GOOD COMES FROM TALKING? FS1's Jason Whitlock said Izzo is "doing the best that he can" in the situation, as there is a "media narrative that he must answer these questions and if he doesn't, he's dodging and he's hurting the victims" of the Larry Nassar case. Whitlock: "A lot of this pushback is the media forcing an issue when it makes clear common sense that at this time, Tom Izzo can't be talking out in the public about this. There's lawsuits, things will be misconstrued. It wouldn't be helpful. It would give us things to write about, but it wouldn't help the situation.” FS1's Colin Cowherd: "What could Tom Izzo say that people would go, ‘Perfect.’ You have dozens of victims. It wasn't his program, per se, but there's going to be all sorts of legal ramifications. He also has former players that had situations. What Tom is basically saying is, ‘Listen, this is complex. I'm in the middle of a basketball season. When I answer this, I want to make sure everything is buttoned up’” (“Speak for Yourself,” FS1, 2/1).
SHUT IT ALL DOWN: In Tampa, Martin Fennelly writes under the header, "Why Are They Still Playing Games At Michigan State?" Fennelly: "Why even play athletics at Michigan State until we know all the facts? Why play sports up there until we know that students, not just student athletes, are safe and sound and protected?" MSU should "suspend its athletic programs until we know everything we need to know" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 2/2).
