COACHES CORNER
FEB. 14 -- Michigan State athletes involved in sexual assault have been treated favorably, with their crimes having gone unreported or not investigated. The coaching staff has a legal and moral duty to report and investigate any incidents of sexual assault involving their athletes. Cases have emerged demonstrating that Tom Izzo and Mark Dantonio have not reported, investigated, or reprimanded their athletes for accusations of sexual assault. For this, they should be fired.
Last month, CBS Detroit reported Dantonio saying, “This is new ground for us. We’ve been here 11 years — it has not happened previously,” when discussing the four players who were removed from his team last year for sexual assault. But a former university sexual assault counselor contradicts his statement. She detailed a time when she was reassured that Dantonio handled an allegation by having the player discuss it with his mother. Coaches are influential in young men’s lives—teaching them right from wrong during a tumultuous time. Their sheer ability to influence an athletes’ mind is powerful; it should be used to help these men understand the consequences of sexual assault, and the real life penalty for it, instead of idly standing by to watch it happen.
Dantonio showed no consequences for a player assaulting another student-athlete in 2009. AJ Sturges, a MSU hockey player, was physically assaulted by Glenn Winston, a running back, outside his own home, MLive reported. Winston received an 180-day sentence that was cut short due to inmate work and overcrowding. He was released in time to make the first day of preseason camp. Mark Dantonio had the ability to lead by example, removing Winston from the team, and show that violence is not tolerated. Instead, Dantonio demonstrates that this type of violence is something that will not hinder an athlete’s ability to continue playing — in fact it will not affect him at all.
Gary Parrish, CBS Sport reporter, wrote that after spending three days with Tom Izzo, the Hall of Fame coach drove him to the airport. This exemplifies the belief that Izzo is an exceptional human being. Except that he is not. In 2010, Travis Walton, point guard for MSU, was charged with assault and battery (which was later dismissed as a littering infraction) after hitting a female student. Instead of illustrating that this is not an accepted behavior, Izzo allowed him to continue as a graduate-assistant coach, USA Today reported. Months later, Walton was accused of raping a female student, but according to Sports Illustrated it was never reported to the police. Tom Izzo, as the leader of the basketball program and face of the athletic department, wrongly allowed Walton to continue his career with MSU’s basketball team. With knowledge of the charges, accusations, and having cooperated in the investigations, Izzo should have never allowed Walton to come back. This provides another example of Michigan State coaches being bystanders in their own programs and letting physical and sexual violence become a norm.
Leading by example is the quality of a good coach, but Dantonio and Izzo have failed to demonstrate this to their teams. As a result, a culture of sexual assault among the MSU athletic department has been instilled. Time and time again, these two coaches had the opportunities to right wrongs by removing players from their teams, illustrating the consequences. Instead, they let it slide and by not taking a stand, sent the seal of approval for this type of behavior. For this, a stern talking to will not do — it’s time for them to go.
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Sources:
http://www.mlive.com/spartans/index.ssf/2009/08/msu_hockey_player_aj_sturges_r.html
