EAST LANSING, Mich. – While a record-setting 9.9 million viewers were watching this year’s women’s college basketball national championship game in April, the Michigan State athletic department had its focus elsewhere.
Days earlier, the school had named Robyn Fralick the sixth head coach in program history, replacing Suzy Merchant after 16 seasons.
Fralick arrives in East Lansing with eight years of head coaching experience -- three with Division II Ashland, and most recently, five at Bowling Green State University. The Okemos, Michigan, native has a track record of winning and bringing teams up from the bottom.
Fralick and won the GLIAC conference all three years at Ashland, and also brought home a Division II national championship in 2017. She then moved on to BGSU, where she went from managing just eight wins in her first season to 31, and a run to the semifinals in the women’s NIT this past March.
Having appeared in the AP poll just once in the past three years -- and not making it past the second round of the NCAA tournament since 2009 -- Fralick now joins a Spartans team that is starving for success.
She knows the journey will not be an easy one, nor will it be quick. Fralick, however, is confident in the environment and support the Michigan State fanbase, athletic department, and community will provide to allow her to build a winning program.
Fralick joined Local 4′s Jamie Edmonds to talk about that journey on this week’s episode of Sports Final Edition. You can watch the full interview below.