It’s been a strange few months for the Michigan State football team and head coach Mark Dantonio. In addition to coming off a shocking 3-9 campaign last season, the Spartans have been in the midst of an ongoing sexual assault investigation that has involved several players on the team and a support staffer.
Dantonio has discussed the allegations and investigations -- vaguely -- just once the past few months and there’s been what has amounted to a media blackout in East Lansing for spring football. The Spartans held their Spring Game on Saturday afternoon however but the most notable aspect of the contest was not the White team’s 30-23 victory over the Green team, but who wasn’t involved in the game.
Per MLive.com, a whopping 15 players of the football team did not participate in the event and at least 10 were limited to the sidelines in sweatshirts. Perhaps most prominent of the names was that of tailback LJ Scott, a likely starter who has contributed significantly in the backfield.
All of the players were listed on the roster handed out to the media before the game, prompting the question as to why they weren’t involved.
The school and Dantonio have announced that several players were suspended this spring but have declined to mention any names connected to the probe or who is out injured. The spring game was televised on the Big Ten Network but it appears it may be many more weeks (or months) before we find out who exactly is involved in the ongoing investigation as MSU looks ahead to 2017.