Michigan State's Tom Izzo says playing again honors shooting victims

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo said Thursday it was clear that his team wanted to «get back on the floor» this week in the wake of a fatal campus shooting that claimed three lives and shut down all campus activities at the school for several days.

Izzo said he and his team have spent the past several days attempting to find a balance between processing the trauma of Monday night's shooting with a desire to return to some form of normalcy. The Spartans met at Izzo's home Tuesday morning to let players know how to access mental health resources if needed and to discuss a path forward. He said the team did not consider canceling Saturday night's upcoming road game against Michigan.

«You have to figure out a way to honor the people who were senselessly killed, and our way of being able to do that is to play the game,» Izzo said during a news conference Thursday night.

Three students were killed and five others remain hospitalized after a 43-year-old man unaffiliated with the university opened fire in a classroom building and at the student union Monday night, according to police. The campus was locked down for several hours until police announced that the suspected shooter took his own life, when confronted by law enforcement.

Michigan State canceled all campus activities — including games for the men's and women's basketball teams — earlier in the week. Sporting events will resume for the Spartans on Friday, and students will return to class next week. Izzo said his team practiced Wednesday and Thursday. He said he spoke with mental health professionals to get advice on how to approach a return to basketball.

"[The players] felt that if they played it would help not only themselves