Greg Gard gives honest response on tragedy at Michigan State

The shooting at Michigan State University on Monday night rocked a campus and community, and left those near and afar considering the unthinkable. Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Greg Gard is no different.

Speaking after Wisconsin defeated Michigan on Tuesday night, Gard reflected on his own college-aged children and how he thought about them. At times, finding the right words were difficult.

“I haven’t really talked to the team about it, other than my own son late last night,” Gard said. “The reason I’m pausing and scratching for words here is, I’ve got two kids in college and there’s — and I know we see it all over, way too much in this country. But when you get a call from your daughter, and I get home late last night and don’t know what’s going on. And my wife says ‘Hey, did you see what happened at Michigan State? And I didn’t think they played last night, and then she starts telling me and that, that rocks you. Because nobody’s immune to it, unfortunately.”

Gard continued, and called the thought of his own children being victims of a shooting was a parents “worst nightmare.”

“That has got to be absolutely horrific to go through,” Gard said.

He also shared that he spoke with Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo late on Monday night.

“So, I did talk to coach Izzo, late last night. At that point in time, he knew that the game tomorrow night was going to be cancelled and campus was shutdown. But it’s everybody’s worst nightmare. But when you’re a parent and you’ve got kids the exact same age and they know people on that campus, that hits, big time. Just send all my best wishes and thoughts to everybody in East Lansing and what they’re going through. And hopefully they can recover from this. But there’s three sets of parents — I know there are four or five others in critical condition — that don’t get another call from their kids. So, as a parent, that’s your worst nightmare,” Gard said.