by Nick Morgan, Sports Editor
On Jan. 22, long time U.S. Gymnastics Team and Michigan State University doctor, Larry Nassar, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison on seven counts of criminal sexual conduct in Ingham County in Michigan after he admitted to using his trusted medical position to assault and molest around 150 girls in his care.
While people can rest assured that Nassar is no longer a danger to our society after Judge Rosemarie Aquilina threw the book at him, this case has opened up new discussions regarding Michigan State University’s method of handling sexual assault claims.
ESPN’s Outside the Lines’ investigation has led to uncovering issues regarding these sexual assault claims including the denial, inaction and information suppression of these allegations by campus officials. These officials include campus police officers all the way up to the Spartan athletic director, Mark Hollis, who announced his retirement a few days after Nassar was indicted, and President Lou Anna Simon, who also resigned from her position shortly after the trial.
Outside the Lines has also reported that some of Michigan State’s most famous figures, head football coach Mark D’Antonio and basketball coach Tom Izzo, have had incidents within their respective programs over the last decade. Since D’Antonio took the helm as the Spartans football coach, it is reported that 16 of his current and former players have been accused of sexual misconduct. In Izzo’s tenure, there have been cases involving assistant coaches as well as players.
Adreian Payne, former Spartan basketball player, was asked to terminate his two-way contract with the Orlando Magic and their G-league affiliate after reports of a rape case dating back to 2010 became public. Payne and another recruit, Keith Appling, invited a female student into their dorm room and allegedly proceeded to assault her after playing a game.
According to a police report, Payne told police that he could “understand how she would feel that she was not free to leave.” Payne was reportedly concerned about the student’s reaction to what happened that evening and he had asked Appling to apologize to her. “It was consensual,” he says, and that he “never heard [her] say ‘no’ or ‘stop.’ Had that been the case, I would have completely granted her wishes. We’re not even those type of guys. We wouldn’t want anybody to feel uncomfortable around us.”
As it stands, the program is not facing any NCAA sanctions, but it remains under further investigation. Tom Izzo and Mark D’Antonio have both stated that they would not resign from their positions amid these investigations
The Spartans basketball team is currently ranked in the top five in the AP Poll under Izzo, and D’Antonio’s fifteenth ranked football team finished their season out in December with a 42-17 win over Washington State in the Holiday Bowl.
