Rosemont, Ill. — In late January, in the wake of the Larry Nassar sexual assault scandal at Michigan State that led to the resignation of university president Lou Anna K. Simon, ESPN published a report that said there was a history of the school and its athletic department of essentially covering up incidents of sexual assault in football and men’s basketball, its two biggest programs.
The night the report was first published, on Jan. 26, football coach Mark Dantonio met with the media just minutes before the basketball team was set to play Wisconsin and emphatically defended his program.