ESPN's Jay Bilas commends Tom Izzo for leadership amidst Michigan State tragedy

Fair or not, appropriate or not, Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo has been the face of the university amidst the recent tragedy.

To his credit, Izzo hasn't shied away from that responsibility, and has handled the task with as much grace and understanding as could be expected.

That fact wasn't lost on ESPN's Jay Bilas, who was the broadcast analyst for the Spartans recent 80-65 win over No. 17 Indiana.

“I spent about an hour and half with him, and we talked about a number of different things but you could feel, like, he feels a lot of responsibility to uplift this community as best he can through basketball. And that responsibility it weighing on him," Bilas told fellow ESPN employee Scott Van Pelt on a late night edition of SportsCenter, following Michigan State's victory.

“He gets it that winning a basketball game is just a short, two-hour respite for all the people here in East Lansing and at Michigan State. It’s a traumatic event to say the least, and one that’s become all-too-familiar in our country.”

Van Pelt noted that Izzo built Michigan State's program with toughness as its cornerstone, but we've seen a different side of the head coach over the past week and a half.

“Their identity under Tom Izzo has been toughness…but I think part of being tough is also being vulnerable," Van Pelt said. "You don’t always have to be tough, you can lay down your shield and you can lean on somebody next to you.”

Bilas agreed.

 “Vulnerability and seeking help when you need it is not weakness, it’s strength," Bilas said.

"Tom – as tough as he is, and he’s a tough dude, he’s a Yooper that is now a Michigan State Spartan for life – he’s quick to cry. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, but it’s so real, and that’s one thing I’ve always loved and respected about him most. Agree or disagree with Tom, or he with you, you know it’s coming from the right place. And everything that he’s done in the last week – and we talked about it tonight, there’s no playbook for this – has been from the heart and it’s been genuine.”

In preparation for ESPN's broadcast of the Michigan State-Indiana game, Bilas spent time on campus talking with different people associated with the university.

“I was here all day yesterday, went to practice and the first person I saw when I got to practice was Steven Izzo, Tom’s son. And I asked him how he was doing, and he just said, ‘A little better each day’," Bilas said.

“I was talking to a student before the game, and he told me that he was getting gas today, and as he was filling up his tank, when the gas hit full it made that sound when it automatically shut off that we’re all familiar with, and the young man said he jumped. Emotions are still really raw here, and rightfully so.

Yet, amidst that raw emotion, Michigan State was able to shrug off a very poor first 14 minutes against the Hoosiers, before dominating the last 26 for a decisive victory.

Fittingly, a major factor in the Spartans' win was their effort on the glass. Izzo values rebounding perhaps more than any other coach in the country, and Michigan State finished with a 33-24 edge on the glass, while converting 10 offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points.

“Yesterday, at practice, Tom had talked about how Indiana had 15 offensive rebounds against Illinois, and he said, ‘Every shot that goes up, we’re hitting somebody’. He calls it, ‘Hit, Find and Fetch’ – they hit somebody, they hold their block out, they turn, they find the ball and then they go after it," Bilas said.

“That was about as focused a rebounding performance I’ve seen all year long. Everybody in a Spartan uniform contributed in a positive way to this win.”

Izzo himself joined Van Pelt on SportsCenter some time later, and shared his prospective on the game and what it meant.

“It was hopefully two hours of joy, because there’s been a lot of sadness here," Izzo said. "I think that’s one thing sports can do for you – it can exhilarate you and make you all come together. There were 15,000 people there tonight, and I feel like I could give a hug to every one of them by how my team played.”

By no means was it a perfect game for the Spartans, but they showed the toughness that personifies their head coach on Tuesday night.

“You have to expect [the tragedy] to be part of the team dynamic," Bilas said. "But for two hours here, Michigan State poured their heart and soul into this game.”

Tom Izzo's full interview with Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter can be viewed below: