Tom Izzo issues statement to clarify comments he made in support of Michigan St. president

ByABC News
January 22, 2018, 2:35 PM

— -- Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo issued a statement Sunday to clarify comments he made Friday night in support of school president Lou Anna K. Simon, whose status is embattled as a result of the Larry Nassar case.

"On Friday night in my postgame press conference, I used the wrong words when trying to express my belief that Larry Nassar and anyone else who broke the law should be held accountable for their crimes," Izzo said in the statement. "My overall message was, and remains, that I have tremendous admiration for the courage the survivors have shown, and that Larry Nassar has permanently damaged the lives of so many people and deserves all the punishment that he receives."

After the Spartans' 85-57 victory over Indiana on Friday night, Izzo said he hoped "the right person was convicted" in expressing his support for school president Lou Anna K. Simon, saying that he has "the utmost faith and respect" for her leadership.

Izzo said Friday that "as a father, it's been a difficult week" as he "listened to the stories of those courageous women, and I look at the survivors who spoke, and in all honesty, Nassar permanently damaged and changed the lives of so many of those people. I feel like it's changed the life of all of us at Michigan State in some way, shape or form. As a father, that's difficult to even fathom."

Trustee Mitch Lyons called on Simon to resign Saturday night, a day after the Board of Trustees as a whole publicly backed Simon in the wake of calls for her resignation due to how her administration handled the fallout from Nassar, the disgraced former Michigan State and USA Gymnastics doctor.

Nassar pleaded guilty to 10 counts of criminal sexual conduct in November. More than 150 women have accused him of sexual assault, many saying he abused them when they saw him for medical treatment on Michigan State's campus.

ESPN's Dan Murphy contributed to this report.