Michigan State coach Tom Izzo working to balance tragedy and progress toward normalcy

East Lansing, Mich. – With Michigan State heading into its second week of healing from the Feb. 13 shootings, Tom Izzo said he is working to balance the task of coaching his basketball team and promoting a supportive environment for his players and the campus community.

Michigan State will play host to its first major sporting event since the tragedy on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. when the Spartans play Indiana in men’s basketball. 

“(Tuesday night) will be another emotional night, our first game back on campus with our fans,” Izzo said during Monday’s weekly press conference. “Make no mistake about it: This will never go away, nor do we want it to go away. Time heals everything, one way or another but we want to make sure that our students are respected and we want to keep them in our thoughts and prayers. And the ones that are still in the hospital, we want to keep them in our thoughts and prayers. 

“So it’s not like we are moving on. We are just moving on to the next game. Our thoughts are prayers are going to be the same.”

Three Michigan State students were killed and five were hospitalized on Feb. 13 when a gunman opened fire at the Michigan State Union building and Berkey Hall. 

Of the five hospitalized students, one was listed in fair condition on Monday, and two were in serious but stable condition and two remained in critical condition. 

Michigan State students returned to classes on Monday. On Sunday, hundreds of volunteers descended upon campus to help welcome students back to East Lansing in a grassroots movement that became adopted officially by the university and termed “Spartan Sunday.”

Welcome-back signs remain planted along the sidewalks of residence halls throughout campus, and along Grand River Ave., with messages such as: “We Love You, MSU,” “Spartan Strong,” “You Are Not Alone,” and countless others. 

Volunteers handed out snacks, candy, food, flowers and even coloring books to students as they returned to Michigan State on Sunday. Therapy dogs were brought to campus for petting. The sound of barking dogs created a new backdrop for a campus brimming with support and compassion. 

“Yesterday, there was an incredible amount of people on this campus,” Izzo said. “A lot of parents came up. My son went to it. I didn’t go; I’m trying to do my day job better. But they said it was an incredible happening on campus.”

Izzo, Spartan coaches and campus leaders, have met with psychological professionals to help guide them in assisting the students they have access to. Some of the things impressed upon the coaches are things Izzo has believed for years.

“I’ve said it many times: Being alone is not the answer,” Izzo said. “That’s why teammates on a team have to help each other. We’re all teammates right now as a campus, and a community. We have to help each other. I think the more time we spend around each other, the better. I think we need each other to comfort each other and to help each other through tough times. 

“I heard of people wanting to be away. I understand why, but I beg and plead that people to get back to normal as fast as they can. And the ones that need help, let’s help them. And the ones that are ready to get back, let’s make you guys helpful to the rest of the people because there is nothing like the people next to you. Nothing. United we stand, as they say. And tomorrow night, I don’t know how my own players will handle it.”

Izzo, and Spartans everywhere, were moved by the tribute to the victims on Saturday night prior to Michigan State’s game in Ann Arbor. 

Izzo said he had not heard what the university is planning for pre-game on Tuesday at Breslin Center.

“I’m sure there will be some things that go on, but they (the organizers) know that I have enough on my plate so I have not been involved in the pre-game situation,” Izzo said. “I’m sure I will be told as it all comes together. I just hope that the kids that we lost and the kids that we still have, and the kids that have been through it, I hope that we honor them all and I hope that we respect each other and every one of them and how they feel. Hopefully it will be respectfully great.”

Meanwhile, Michigan State (16-10 overall and 8-7 in the Big Ten) needs to win two or three more games to cement its place in the NCAA Tournament field. Michigan State is projected as a No. 7 seed by ESPN at this time.

“Yesterday we had a walk-through and film sessions, and we still talked about it (the tragedy) because I think (Tuesday) will be another emotional night, just being back home,” Izzo said. “Who knows how everybody will respond. But we have to do things basketball-wise to take care of the business we need to take care of, and be there as support for people that deal with it in different ways. 

“The hardest thing for me is figuring out how to balance it: normalcy and tragedy. I’m not sure we will ever do a great job of it. This isn’t going away today or tomorrow, and unfortunately for some families it is not going to go away in a lifetime, and I hope we do enough here that it doesn’t go away in a lifetime, either. 

“Fortunately or unfortunately, life moves on and you have to process. That’s part of becoming a man or a woman. I’m learning on the run, myself.”

Izzo says he remains committed to trying to do what he can as a humble basketball coach to promote the healing process.

“I’m sad that I have had to be a part of that,” Izzo said. “And I’m honored to be a part of that, to help bring some normalcy to these kids who have been through so much in the last three or four years, and so much in the last week.”