EAST LANSING, Mich. — Robyn Fralick grew up in Okemos, in the shadows of Breslin Center, occasionally playing in one of those little-tykes games at halftime. She loved the Melting Moments ice-cream sandwiches.
Now, she's a Spartan.
Fralick was introduced as the sixth head women's basketball coach in Michigan State history during a raucous press conference-slash-pep rally on Tuesday, pledging to build on the program's success and get the Spartans into the mix in the national landscape, at a time when the women's game has never been more popular.
"Women's basketball is as good as it has ever been," Fralick said, two days after the women's national-championship game drew a sellout crowd in Dallas, and record TV ratings.
"We will work hard to build on the tradition of MSU women's basketball."
Fralick, 41, arrives at Michigan State after a five-year run at Bowling Green, where she turned around a dormant program to the tune of a 31-7 record this season. Bowling Green made the WNIT Final Four.
That followed a wildly successful three-year run as head coach at Division II Ashland, where she won a national championship, after winning one as an assistant coach.
She is widely regarded as one of the rising coaches in the game, and was the top target of Michigan State Alan Haller from the beginning of his national search.
"Women's basketball has never been more popular than right now," Haller said. "We want to be a part of that fun. We want to be there consistently. We want to enjoy in the excitement of the NCAA Tournament."
Haller said he relied on a lot of outside counsel, including advice from some of the top coaches in the women's game, in making his decision. He also leaned on Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo, who did homework of his own and ended up giving Fralick a "thumbs-up," Haller said.
Fralick replaces Suzy Merchant, another Mid-American Conference disciple who parlayed her success at Eastern Michigan into a successful 16-year run as Michigan State head coach. She made 10 NCAA Tournaments, but stepped down earlier this year amid undisclosed health issues.
Attending Tuesday afternoon's press conference were members of the women's basketball team; several other coaches, including Dean Lockwood, who was interim coach in Merchant's late-season absence; and Fralick's husband, Tim, a former player at Oakland University, and their town young kids. Also in attendance were members of Fralick's staff at Bowling Green — all Michigan natives, like her — though Fralick said nothing has been officially finalized regarding her staff at Michigan State.
