Merchant's next step is to raise bar

EAST LANSING - Suzy Merchant sat at a table full of media types for two hours Tuesday morning, chatting and joking and answering questions about her plans for the Michigan State women's basketball program.

This was one day after Merchant was introduced as coach, mind you, at a heavily populated news conference in Breslin Center's auxiliary gym.

It was about seven years after her predecessor, Joanne P. McCallie, was introduced publicly via teleconference. A couple of folks dialed in that day to find out about the "Coach P." character.

Two obvious statements apply: One, MSU women's hoops is a program that matters in this community, as never before. Two, McCallie deserves a lot of credit for making it that way.

In light of this hiring and the circumstances surrounding the program, I'll go a step further: It can get better.

There's room to expand

Everything is here - starting with Merchant, a 37-year-old Traverse City native who has done nothing but win as a coach and nothing but impress in two days of public display - to take MSU women's basketball to the sport's highest levels.

I'm talking Tennessee, Connecticut, LSU. I'm talking Duke, where McCallie landed two weeks ago. I'm talking bottom-line profit (only Tennessee and UConn can say that) and top-level crowds, even as some wonder if last season's average attendance of 6,646 - 310 percent higher than McCallie's first season - is a max-out number.

"There's always room to grow," Merchant said Tuesday, and if you don't think that applies here, look at what's already in place.

The Berkowitz Basketball Complex, for instance. It opened in 2002, built with $7.5 million in privately raised funds that poured in after Tom Izzo and the MSU men won the 2000 national title.

It is an NBA-quality facility. Actually, it's better than some NBA facilities. It's a huge recruiting advantage for Izzo. Just think of the difference it made for McCallie, who toils in a sport that, despite Title IX, still lags behind the men on many college campuses.

Berkowitz, with its shiny practice courts, plush offices, film-room theater and cutting-edge video scouting system, was an undeniable factor in McCallie's success.

Key personnel in place

The first thing kids look for, Merchant said, is a coaching staff they like.

"The second thing is, they want stuff," she said.

The stuff is here for them. And the players are here for Merchant.

This is a team that can win championships, immediately, because of the presence of 6-foot-9 center Allyssa DeHaan. The sophomore-to-be can be as dominant as any player in the nation.

She's that big and that good.

Add some physicality to the wingspan and the deft touch around the basket, and you have a translated combination of Greg Oden and Yao Ming. (OK, maybe the hyperbole's a little thick there. Point is, you have a dominant center.)

MSU has signed a top-20 class for next season, helping ease the loss of senior leaders Victoria Lucas-Perry and Rene Haynes.

A few miles down the road, Ionia High junior guard Kellie Watson will choose among MSU, Michigan, Notre Dame and Duke. She's a local star, in the mold of former Spartans Kristin Haynie and Lindsay Bowen, who can deliver wins and ticket sales.

Keep DeHaan. Keep the 2007 recruits. Get Watson. You're in the top 10.

And that means you're maintaining attendance. As is, MSU ranks ninth nationally. The biggest of games amid the wildest of success are the only ones that will pack Breslin - such as when 14,000 saw the Spartans beat Ohio State in 2005.

But if Merchant can keep stringing together NCAA appearances and advancements, MSU women's basketball can become a traditional power in a sport that is still young. And the core fan base will grow.

This won't be easy, of course. Merchant has to translate her impressive success at Eastern Michigan to a higher level. She must win a lot of players over right away, then win a lot of games in her debut season to avoid talk of a post-P. downturn.

She must learn the MSU political terrain. Trustee Joel Ferguson, noted women's basketball enthusiast that he is, spoke first at her news conference, using the platform to take a shot at McCallie.

This is a strange place.

But it's also a place that cares about women's basketball, more than ever. That's a reality, thrilling and daunting at once, that gives Suzy Merchant a chance to build something extraordinary.

Contact Joe Rexrode at 377-1070 or jrexrode@lsj.com.