EAST LANSING — The sun hit the horizon here at 7:58 a.m. on Friday.
It was followed by a daylong thunderclap in one of the grayest, darkest storms in the history of collegiate athletics.
This was a day unlike any other for Michigan State University’s athletic department. After a week of victim statements at the Larry Nassar sexual abuse sentencing brought the university, its president, and its board of trustees to a point of rationalization and often-failed penance, the repercussions of Nassar’s evil poured in under the doors of the athletic department. A change in leadership atop the department was followed by two iconic coaches declaring they will not budge, all while the fog of a national news report condemning all parties from top to bottom blew into town.
There was a game, too, if that’s what you want to call it.
The phone calls began around 9 a.m. Local media members were beckoned to campus, told to scramble to athletic department offices at 1855 Place and asked not to publicize the impromptu media availability. They were not informed of the subject matter, but were told to be there by 11:00 a.m. By 10:48 a.m., the Detroit Free Press reported that athletic director Mark Hollis would be announcing his resignation after 10 years in the position. Roughly 20 minutes later, Hollis walked into a conference room and issued a statement that mentioned the “incomprehensible pain” of Nassar’s victims. Then he announced his retirement.
“This was not an easy decision for my family, and you should not jump to any conclusions based upon our decision,” Hollis told reporters there. “Listen to the facts. I’m not running away from anything. I’m running toward something.”
Hollis reiterated that he first learned of Nassar’s abuse in September 2016. He said he was not forced to resign or retire. He said he will cooperate with all future investigations. He said that “values such as respect, accountability and, perhaps most importantly, integrity, have served as a foundation through good times and bad.”
The end of Hollis’ tenure is no small affair. The 55-year-old was once considered a power broker in collegiate athletics, pairing an innovative mind with a respected voice. He served last year as chair of the selection committee for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, a lofty throne, and he had long been seen by many as a logical successor for Jim Delany’s seat as Big Ten Conference commissioner. That career, for now, is over. While those close to Hollis expect him to ultimately return to the sports landscape at some point, that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon.
As of Thursday afternoon, 24 hours before his announcement, close associates of Hollis were still trying to sway him to remain as AD and face whatever comes next. They thought he might change his mind about retirement. One source told The Athletic that some members of the department were “crushed” by the final decision.
At 1:17 p.m., though, Hollis’ motives for stepping down were crystallized and questioned. ESPN published an Outside The Lines story detailing a catalog of sexual assault, violence and gender discrimination at MSU. The report claimed that both football coach Mark Dantonio and men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo improperly handled alleged crimes committed by their players. Some of the information was newly unearthed. Some of it was previously reported, revisited under a microscope of the current context. It added up to a damning public perception for a department already on the brink.
One overriding aspect of ESPN’s story was the great extent to which MSU has gone to fight legal battles against open-record requests. In a lawsuit filed by ESPN, the school was found to have violated state open-records laws. MSU later filed a preemptive suit to further withhold records, only to have the case dismissed.
In part of its report, ESPN revealed that it approached Michigan State officials on Wednesday morning, laid out the information in the story and issued interview requests for Hollis, Dantonio and Izzo. The requests subsequently were declined. Then came Hollis’ retirement. Because he made his announcement before ESPN published its story, reporters were unable to ask if there was any correlation.
That led many observers to make the connection for him.
While the news in ESPN’s report rapidly spread, the Michigan State Board of Trustees gathered across campus at MSU’s Hannah Administration Building, on the other side of the Red Cedar River. A sign posted on the door said that only “employees and escorted guests” were permitted on the fourth floor. The board met to discuss a possible replacement for ousted university president Lou Anna Simon. For a school well past the tipping point of turmoil, the meeting offered a reminder of the real scope of this story — systemic abuse at the hands of a monster and the boundless reach of blame. Bill Beekman, a university vice president who serves as the board’s secretary, was announced as a stopgap while a search is conducted for an interim president.
Amid that, around midday, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos released a statement saying her office will investigate MSU, vowing to hold the university accountable. The university already has been under federal investigation since 2014. The lid will now be peeled back further.
Nearly lost in all the news Friday was a story from the Lansing State Journal detailing that the conclusion section of a 2014 Nassar Title IX report found “significant problems” and the potential for “unnecessary trauma.” MSU didn’t share that information with the woman whose allegation led to the investigation, according to the article.
By 3 o’clock, a heavy malaise settled in. University employees walking the halls of 1855 Place patted backs and exchanged grimaces.
At Michigan State, an omnipotence of sorts has long existed around the triumvirate of Hollis, Dantonio and Izzo. Even as scrutiny mounted over the course of a year, few predicted that Sparta would fall. To see Hollis step away and both Dantonio and Izzo displaying outward defiance, all in one sudden blaze, was a jarring shift of cultural norms.
In the afternoon, social media buzzed with falsehoods and fabrications. Unsubstantiated rumors bubbled that Izzo was preparing to announce his own retirement, a move that would supposedly be followed by Dantonio’s resignation. In an incredible display of ignorance run amok, wild speculation was retweeted, and a narrative — one not credited to any individual reporter — was born and raised, even despite attempts to dispel it.
By 7:15 p.m., TV reporters scrambled around the Breslin Center, snapping tripods open and conducting soundchecks in advance of the men’s basketball game against Wisconsin. Word spread that Dantonio was on his way over to issue a statement. Obvious speculation stirred. Tension built as time passed. Finally, Dantonio emerged through a side door wearing a charcoal suit and a striped green tie. He stepped behind a lectern, standing in front of a backdrop that displayed Michigan State logos, but without the typical sponsorship imagery. The normal backdrop, featuring sponsor logos alongside MSU branding, was not used. The Athletic learned that the sponsor usually featured in that spot, Auto-Owners Insurance, requested it be omitted.
Known for his steely manner, Dantonio began speaking, resolute as ever. He shot down rumors of his resignation and elements of the Outside the Lines report.
“I’m here tonight to say that any accusations of my handling of any complaints of sexual assault are completely false,” he said. “Every incident reported in that article was documented by either police or the Michigan State Title IX office. I’ve always worked with the proper authorities when dealing with the cases of sexual assault. We have always had high standards in this program, and that will never change.”
Prior to Dantonio’s address, hundreds of MSU students convened at the emblematic rock in the middle of campus. The names of victims who spoke out about Nassar’s abuse currently appear there, scrolled in freshly brushed paint. On an unseasonably warm night, speeches and chants accompanied a march in support of the victims. Lindsey Lemke, a former MSU gymnast who was abused by Nassar, was among those who spoke.
Back at Breslin, lines poured into Gilbert Pavilion. Fans walked through the Izzo Hall of History, arching their necks to see the recently completed $20 million addition to the arena. The 30,000-square-foot museum was built upon the coaching success of Izzo and with money raised by Hollis. Reminders of both men are everywhere.
Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio watches Friday’s game between MSU and Wisconsin from behind Tom Izzo and the Spartans’ bench at Breslin Center (Photo by Rey Del Rio / Getty Images)
Students arrived early and were given plain teal T-shirts. Earlier this week, MSU junior Sarah Albus, one of 13 student-section organizers, heard about the gathering at the rock and suggested they get involved. The group, working independently of the school and its athletic department, decided the shirts would serve as a sign of solidarity with the victims. The idea took off.
Albus said two alumni donors flipped the bill for 1,500 shirts. More individuals wanted to donate, so a Gofundme page was established and, as of late Friday, more than $6,200 was raised. The money, according to Albus, will go to The Firecracker Foundation, a mid-Michigan nonprofit that assists child survivors of sexual trauma, and the Sexual Assault Crisis Intervention Team of MSU.
“It’s been a very tough week, and I know this is only beginning,” Albus said, sitting on a baseline bleacher before the game. “We just wanted to be a light in all this, as students, so we wanted to make this about the survivors and tell them they’re not alone. We just want everybody to know that this is what it means to be a Spartan.”
Out near center court, the Fox Sports 1 broadcast prepared to go live. Meetings had been held earlier in the day about how to handle the overriding issues, while also covering the game at hand. The decision was made to address and outline the details of the week at Michigan State — but to leave it at the facts, without any editorializing.
FS1 analyst Jim Jackson, who was calling the game with play-by-play man Tim Brando, stood at half court watching warmups and plainly said, “There will be no opinions.”
Izzo spoke to Brando before the game and said there was “absolutely no truth” to rumors of his retirement.
The game tipped off shortly after 8 p.m. Everyone went through the motions, pretending it was just another day, just another game. Snagged by the tripwire of paradox, the student section, known as the Izzone, cheered its cheers and wore its shirts. At times, some chanted: “We love Izzo! We love Izzo!”
At its core, a university exists for its students, who are there to learn, to think and to learn how to think — not for those who oversee sports teams or wield power from the president’s office. In that regard, on Friday, it appeared many MSU students were trying to reconcile their fandom with the gravity of the moment.
At 10:09 p.m., Michigan State left the floor with a 76-61 win over Wisconsin. The game happened, but didn’t feel like it had been played.
Twenty-three minutes later, Izzo walked into the media room and stood at the same dais Dantonio had earlier occupied. He spoke in slow, measured tones, glancing down at a prepared statement. While the Spartans went through normal gameday preparation, Izzo spent a stretch of time composing his message and delivery with a staff member, The Athletic was told.
Izzo opened by complimenting the student section. He said, “as a campus community, we need to come together.” He said his program will cooperate with any investigations. He pivoted to basketball talk but was brought back to the larger topic by a series of questions.
Izzo was asked about the rumors of retirement.
“I’m not going anywhere, in my mind,” he responded. “I’m definitely not retiring.”
Even if Izzo wanted to retire, which remains unimaginable, he doesn’t have a direct boss to whom he would tender a resignation. Michigan State’s void in leadership extends from the president’s office to the AD’s office and through the middle of a board of trustees rife with turmoil. To this point, Izzo was asked who he answers to at the moment.
“You know they’ll tell me, but I mean I think they’ve got an interim president right now,” he said. “But like I said, guys, believe it or not, I’m trying my hardest to do two jobs right now — to handle all the things out there and yet get my team prepared. So I haven’t been privy to everything that’s going on with the university as far as who’s going to be president and who’s going to be AD. That would be a shame for us to be worried about that when we’ve got to worry about what these students and people have been through.”
Izzo’s press conference ended around 10:45 p.m.
It was dark outside.
(Top Photo of Mark Hollis: Jake May | MLive.com, via AP)
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