EAST LANSING — Tom Izzo, the Hall of Fame basketball coach, vanished for nearly an hour. So did his vitriol for Michigan State’s rival Michigan.
In his place at the podium inside Breslin Center stood Tom Izzo the father. The teacher. The concerned citizen.
For 45 minutes Thursday afternoon, Izzo parsed through 72 hours of frightening moments, raw emotions and hope for the future of the place he’s called home for 40 years in the wake of Mondaynight’scampus shooting that left three students dead and five others wounded.
“We've had a lot of help from some mental health professionals that I think really helped me,” Izzo said Thursday, a day after giving an emotional speech at a vigil on campus Wednesday night.