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Four Fresh Faces
Nov. 7, 2007
by Jeff Smith Michigan State first-year head coach Suzy Merchant knows there are high expectations for the Spartans women's basketball program this season. She has taken over a team that in the past few years has developed a strong and enthusiastic fan base that has become accustomed to winning. The pressure to win and win fast might be stressful for a first-year head coach, but at least for Merchant, she won't be the only one facing that pressure during the 2007-08 season. Merchant, who will coach in her first game at the helm of the Spartans on Friday in an opening round contest of the Preseason WNIT against IUPUI, is one of four new coaches in the Big Ten this season. Joining her as newcomers to the conference are Illinois' Jolette Law, Michigan's Kevin Borseth and Penn State's Coquese Washington. The rookie group makes up over one-third of the coaches in a conference that has seen its fair share of new coaches over the past few seasons. Of the 11 league coaches, six have no more than one year under their belts at their respective campuses, while eight have served in their positions less than five full seasons. The veterans of the bunch? Wisconsin's Lisa Stone is entering her fifth year in Madison, while Minnesota's Pam Borton and Ohio State's Jim Foster are set to begin their sixth seasons, respectively. Iowa's Lisa Bluder is the new dean of Big Ten women's basketball, as the Hawkeye mentor enters her eighth year overall in Iowa City. Bluder knows what the conference's four new coaches are going through. They each are trying to implement their own philosophies, while she on the other hand is trying to scout all their new systems. "It's going to be difficult to prepare for the teams with new coaches," Bluder said. "Coaches have styles they play and with four new coaches in the league, we have to figure out their style and how they coach. There's going to be a lot of adjustments that need to be made."
Adjusting has been something that Illinois' Law is used to. A former associate head coach at Rutgers, which last year was the NCAA national finalist, Law accepted her first head-coaching position sight unseen on May 11. "I wanted to go to an institution that had vision, resources, facilities and also administrators that really want to be a powerhouse," Law said. "I knew the administration would benefit me. I didn't need to see the buildings and I didn't need to see anything about the facilities. It was a fit. I'm all about being with people that care, and after meeting the administrators I knew it was a good fit for me." Law was not totally unaware of the Champaign campus as she visited occasionally as a star on the Iowa basketball team in the late 1980s. She graduated in 1990 after helping the Hawkeyes to four straight Big Ten titles with a 105-18 combined record. After graduation, she competed as the only woman with the Harlem Globetrotters for four years before finding assistant coaching positions at Ball State and Rutgers. During her four seasons at Rutgers, where she worked under her former Hawkeye coach C. Vivian Stringer, Law helped the Scarlet Knights to two Final Fours, three Elite Eights and three Sweet 16 appearances. So far during the preseason, the new Fighting Illini coach has enjoyed what she has seen on the court. "I think we're making great progress," she said. "Some things are better than others because people naturally resist change." Questions linger leading up to Illinois' road contest at Eastern Illinois on Friday, but after all, they are supposed to. No team enters a season knowing its strengths or weaknesses. For Law, which path the Illini choose to take is still worth pondering. "(It's) how are we going to utilize these talents, and where are we going to go," Law said. "Are we going to sleep in the land of the familiar, or are we going to go the land of the unknown?" Penn State's Washington may too feel as if she is in the land of the unknown. Her situation as a newcomer is similar to Law's. The 2007-08 campaign will be Washington's first season as a head coach at a campus that has not seen a different women's basketball coach in nearly 30 years. Rene Portland left State College last season after 27 years at the helm of the Lady Lion program, one which has helped make Washington's transition a smooth one. "It's been a very smooth transition going from assistant coach to head coach in large part because of where I am at Penn State," Washington said. "I think we've had tremendous support from the administration, from the community and our players. They've really accepted our staff, our coaching style, and our philosophy." During eight seasons as an assistant and associate head coach at Notre Dame, Washington helped the Fighting Irish to a 188-69 record with eight NCAA Tournament appearances, including four Sweet 16 runs and a National Championship in 2001. Friday begins Penn State's quest for its first national championship as the Lady Lions host the WBCA Classic. Penn State will face Arizona, Charlotte and Pittsburgh in the opening weekend. Washington is confident her team has grasped her system and philosophy, although she admits that her approach to this season has been a flexible one. She also points out her captains Kam Gissendanner, Brianne O'Rourke and Mashea Williams have made sure the team is set to begin the year. "Our captains have done a great job of absorbing all of this information and making sure that our team gets it," she said. Michigan and Michigan State will be led by two new coaches this season in Borseth and Merchant, respectively. Borseth, a native of Bessemer, Mich., has returned to his home state after nine seasons as head coach at Wisconsin-Green Bay. During his time with the Phoenix, Borseth recorded a 216-62 record, including eight 20-win seasons. He also led his squad to postseason appearances after claiming the Horizon League regular-season title in each of his nine years. But winning is not something that Wolverine fans have been accustomed to over the past three years. Michigan has combined for a 21-66 (.241) overall record during that span, which includes a 4-44 (.083) mark in conference play. When asked what his biggest challenge is coming into the season, Borseth responded just as the other three coaches did: "New players, new coach, and a new system." The veteran coach knows that success might not come immediately, but hopes to at least have some initial questions answered before the Wolverines tip-off Saturday at home against Akron. "We're teaching a lot more than before, obviously," he said. "When the players know your system, it's a lot easier. We're not sure what we have here. Everyone wants to play, (so) we have to sort through that." As for the Wolverines' in-state rival, Michigan State and Merchant are out to not only meet those high expectations that come with the program, but to surpass them as well. In nine seasons at Eastern Michigan, Merchant managed to meet the goals set forth by the Eagles with a 147-91 record and three 20-win seasons. "We will have some growing pains, but I think by the time the Big Ten games roll around, we will be playing our best basketball," Merchant said at Big Ten media day in late October. Those growing pains were meant to be benign, not season-ending like what junior forward Aisha Jefferson suffered this past Sunday in an exhibition game against Lake Superior State. A Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection in 2005-06 and an honorable mention pick last season, Jefferson tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee and will miss the entire 2007-08 season. Despite losing her floor general, Merchant believes that the rest of her team will respond in Jefferson's absence. "(It's) a new day and we got great players and we are going to rally the troops and we are going to get them together," she said. "The way I came up from small college to mid-major, we have always had to find a way. We have never been as tall, as deep, or as talented as the next guy, so we always had to find a way to beat those bigger teams and get victories." |
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