The Michigan State athletic department suppressed information related to sexual assault allegations against the football and basketball teams, and along with campus police and university officials, fostered a culture of denial and inaction that stretched far beyond the failures of confronting former MSU athletic doctor Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse, according to an ESPN Outside the Lines report published Friday — not long after longtime athletics director Mark Hollis announced his retirement.
Sixteen players have been accused of sexual assault or violence against women under football coach Mark Dantonio’s watch since 2007, according to interviews and public records obtained by ESPN, despite the football coach addressing four football players in June as the first offenders he dealt with any such issues on.