“My first thing for them is going to be: you can make money the rest of your life, you just better make sure you have it,” Izzo said.

Malik Hall is in his first season in the Israel Basketball Premier League, playing in Kiryat Ata, a northern Israeli city. As of Tuesday, Hall had left Israel and was heading to Belgrade, Serbia, to avoid the conflict. The former MSU forward is averaging 15.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game for Ironi Lati Kiryat Ata. Though Kiryat Ata has not yet been attacked, Hall decided to leave the country.

Former MSU point guard Cassius Winston plays in the same league as Hall, but for Hapoel Jerusalem, based in Jerusalem. On Sunday, an Iranian missile strike killed nine in Beit Shemesh, a residential city 18 miles west of Jerusalem. 

South Carolina women's basketball head coach Dawn Staley took to social media on Sunday, saying her program is working to get three of her former players home safely from Israel. Today, Izzo, with a message to his former players overseas, said to leave any dangerous environment you might be in.  

“Do what's best for you, which, from what I'm hearing from most, is to get out of it,” Izzo said. “Whatever that takes, I'll make sure I'm helping do that.”

“I commend Dawn Staley for that, too,” Izzo said. “ I think all coaches who have people over there would feel the same way. It's just [the players’] decision in the end.”

Izzo commended Staley for her efforts to bring her players to safety and said he plans to do the same with Winston and Hall. As of Tuesday, Izzo said he did not yet know what their situations looked like or how close they were to the affected areas.

“I don't know how far away they are, or how close they are, that I don't know, but I will know at the end of today or tomorrow,” Izzo said.