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Michigan State AD cancels trip; gymnastics coach suspended

Men's College Basketball, Michigan State Spartans, Michigan State Spartans

Michigan State suspended its head gymnastics coach Monday, and athletic director Mark Hollis canceled a scheduled two-week national basketball tour while the university is in the midst of two separate sexual abuse investigations.

Michigan State suspended gymnastics coach Kathie Klages on Monday afternoon. The school also announced last Thursday that a police investigation is looking into a sexual assault complaint against three football players.

Eighteen former and current Michigan State student-athletes filed a lawsuit last month claiming that team doctor Larry Nassar abused them during medical examinations starting in 1996. Court documents obtained by the Lansing State Journal allege that Klages was told about sexual assaults in the 1990s and warned an athlete that reporting Nassar might lead to serious consequences for her and the doctor.

University spokesman Jason Cody confirmed that Klages was suspended Monday but offered no details and didn't say whether the suspension was related to Nassar.

Klages has been the Spartans' gymnastics coach for more than two decades.

The three football players have been suspended from team activities and evicted from campus housing. Their names were not released. The athletic department also suspended a staff member tied to the football program pending the investigation.

Hollis, the school's athletic director and the current chair of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, decided not to leave campus this week for a previously scheduled 12-day trip during which he would watch 12 basketball games around the nation. Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo confirmed Hollis' decision to attend to more pressing matters on campus to reporters in East Lansing Monday.

Hollis is expected to still lead the selection committee, a role that included discussing preliminary rankings.

ESPN's Dan Murphy and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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