Comfort zone

EAST LANSING - Earlier this month in Colorado Springs, Suzy Merchant found herself giving instruction to Maya Moore - and she found Moore willing to listen.

"I mean, we're talking about the LeBron James of women's basketball," Merchant said.

Moore is the 6-foot forward who led Connecticut to an undefeated national title as a sophomore, picking up the John Wooden Award along the way.

Merchant is the Michigan State women's basketball coach who still finds herself blown away by some of the experiences her job yields - such as coaching Moore and other stars as an assistant for the USA Basketball women's team that will compete in July in Serbia.

It's an honor for Merchant, and it can't hurt on the recruiting trail. It's also a reminder of just how significant the past year has been for Merchant and a program that now can safely be called her very own.

Think back to last summer. Merchant had completed a 23-14 debut season at MSU that ended with a loss in the Women's NIT title game.

That team was young, battered by injury and surprisingly forsaken by the NCAA Tournament selection committee, but Merchant's reaction to the lack of a bid is simple.

"Not acceptable," she said.

She had been through a whirlwind first year in East Lansing in which "I felt like I was always drinking out of a firehose," she said. And she knew there remained plenty of skeptics who believed she'd never be able to return the program to the heights reached by predecessor Joanne P. McCallie.

One year ago, how was Suzy Merchant feeling about things? On a scale of 1-10, she admitted, she was right around a 3.

Proving ground

That's not to say she was discouraged, just dissatisfied. It had been harder than people realized to get her inherited players to switch from McCallie's matchup zone to her man-to-man system.

The demands on her time were unlike anything she had experienced, and this is the mother of a 2-year-old son, Tyler. A strong fan base is a huge plus but also a source of more pressure than many of Merchant's colleagues encounter.

Merchant says the self-imposed pressure is much greater, but no one can tune out everything.

People wondered why MSU would hire a coach from Eastern Michigan, a coach who had basically been ignored by struggling rival Michigan.

People also had wondered why Merchant ever considered taking that EMU job in 1998. It was a "coach killer," they told her, a place where she couldn't possibly win.

So she ignored them all, took the job and did nothing but win - eight winning seasons, two MAC West titles, an NCAA bid.

In retrospect, that was all the evidence anyone should have needed.

But hey, lots of people wondered why MSU would hire a football coach from Cincinnati, or why Jud Heathcote gave a job to that strange Yooper with the wired-shut jaw in 1983, or how one of Jud's team managers eventually became athletic director.

Making it hers

Merchant's second MSU team started strong. Then swooned. Then recovered, got hot and appeared to be reaching a new level of confidence with a 63-50 win at Illinois on Feb. 5.

Then point guard Brittney Thomas went down with knee injury that ended her season and figured to end MSU's late-season momentum.

Two days later, Merchant scored the signature win of her young MSU career, 52-46 over Ohio State at Breslin Center.

She kept the Spartans together and, six weeks later, got a victory that mushroom-clouded Ohio State - 63-49 over McCallie and No. 6 Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Breslin.

The focus entering the game was McCallie, who no doubt wanted to be here to exult at the expense of her former employer.

As soon as it was over, so was McCallie. She's history.

Merchant and the Spartans are still recovering from a blown seven-point lead in the final 1:26 of a Sweet Sixteen loss to Iowa State - they just watched it for the first time as a team - and it will serve to motivate a group with legit Big Ten title hopes in 2009-10.

Recruiting is booming. Merchant just got a 2010 verbal commitment from 6-7 Madison Williams of Detroit Country Day, who had offers from Connecticut and Tennessee and is considered the highest-ranked recruit in the program's history.

East Lansing all-state forward Klarissa Bell also has agreed to be part of what could be a transformational class of 2010.

That's just what the past year has been for Merchant.

It's been good enough to endear her to USA Basketball, quiet her doubters - even brighten her outlook.

"Even with the paranoia and the drive in me, I'd put me at a 7 now," Merchant said. "I want to be a 10. I want to win a national title."

Joe Rexrode covers Michigan State athletics for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at 377-1070.