Women’s Basketball Head Coach Set to Begin Her Third Year at MSU
Robyn Fralick was named head coach for women’s basketball on March 31, 2023 and brought with her a system that emphasizes a fast-paced offense, pressure defense, and player empowerment in decision-making. This paid immediate dividends as MSU is 44-19 in Fralick’s first two years with two NCAA tournament appearances compared to 31-29 and missing the tournament in the two years prior to her arrival.
The high-output offense that Fralick brought to East Lansing has made the Spartans an exciting team to watch as they ranked in the top 10 for the 2023-24 season in both scoring (82.8 ppg) and field goal percentage (48.1).
Let’s take a closer look at Fralick as she gets ready to begin year three leading the Spartans.
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A native of Okemos, Fralick has indicated that she views MSU as a “destination job” and acknowledges the significance of coaching near her hometown. During her introductory press conference at MSU, Fralick said: “It’s an incredible day to return to the state of Michigan . . . I remember growing up here and playing at halftime of the basketball games, so for this to come full circle is truly amazing.”
Fralick also expressed deep admiration for Tom Izzo, calling him the “best teammate” and that she has cheered for him and been a fan for a long time.
After playing at Okemos High, Fralick went to Davidson College from 2000-2004 where she played in 114 games, starting 64. Fralick averaged 5.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists as a guard in her time at Davidson. Fralick seems proud of her affiliation with Davidson and its basketball tradition , noting that she played there “before Stephen Curry”.
Fralick graduated from Davidson with a degree in psychology and a minor in religion and then immediately went into coaching as an assistant at Appalachian State. She went on to serve as the Director of Basketball Operations at Western Michigan from 2005-2007 prior to joining Ashland University as an assistant coach in 2008. Fralick was promoted to Associate Head Coach at Ashland in 2011 and became the head coach in 2015.
Ashland reached the NCAA Division II championship four times during Fralick’s time as an assistant, winning the title in 2013, but then had even greater success when she took over as head coach. In her three years at the helm from 2015-2018, Ashland won 104 games against just 3 losses. Fralick’s .972 winning percentage during this time is the highest in the NCAA at any level for coaches with a minimum of 100 games. This included a 73 game winning streak and a 37-0 national championship 2017 season.
Core parts of Fralick’s coaching philosophy began to develop at Ashland as an assistant coach under Sue Ramsey who believed in “taking care of people and taking care of details.” Fralick’s aggressive, high scoring offensive philosophy that emphasizes pace and efficiency also began to take shape at Ashland.
After unprecedented success at the Division II level, Fralick moved up to Division I, taking over as the head coach at Bowling Green on April 3, 2018. BGSU had endured four straight losing seasons prior to Fralick’s arrival. The struggles continued in her first two years as the Falcons went just 19-42. It was in Fralick’s third year, however, where a massive turnaround occurred.
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The Falcons went 21-8, including 14-4 in the MAC, in 2020-21 with Fralick being named coach of the year in the conference. This was followed up with a 31-7 record the next year and a run to the 2022 WNIT “Fab 4”.
The run at Ashland and turnaround at Bowling Green caught the eye of former MSU athletic director Alan Haller, who hired Fralick away from the Falcons after the 2022-23 season.
When Fralick moved to MSU, she brought with her, and continued to develop, her five “core values ”:
- Be a great teammate – teams play differently for each other when there is a high level of care for each other.
- Manners matter – gratitude over entitlement encourages players to appreciate their opportunities.
- Trust – slow to earn, fast to lose; it’s a two-way street between players and coaches requiring consistent effort.
- Toughness – related to playing style, where a fast pace requires a high level of physical and mental toughness.
- Commitment – “Culture isn’t built in a day, it’s built every day ”; consistent hard work is needed every day.
Perhaps the importance of these values started to emerge to Fralick during her psychology studies at Davidson. They likely contribute to a culture where players are invested in something larger than themselves, leading to a strong locker room and attracting recruits who seek a more comprehensive developmental experience on a team.
Fralick, a mother or two, also strives for “work-life integration ” and acknowledges that the demands of coaching can often make it hard to separate the court from life at home. Rather than facing the extreme challenge of keeping the two separate, Fralick has brought them together at times. She’s taken her family on recruiting trips and even employed her husband, Tim, as a volunteer assistant coach while at Ashland.
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On the court, Fralick’s teams have clear offensive and defensive philosophies. A high/low motion offense provides a framework while also allowing players the freedom to make decisions in the flow of the game. This system emphasizes versatile bigs and guards, and consistently working the ball through the post with ball screens and interchangeable post action. As with Izzo’s teams, immediately attacking after a make or miss and moving the ball up the court with speed is another emphasis.
On defense, Fralick often utilizes trapping and scrambling pressure designed to cause turnovers. This system focuses on varying the time and location of the traps to make it unpredictable for the opponent.
Combined together, these high energy offensive and defensive systems can rely on the full depths of the roster and encourages players to make reads and decisions on the court, both of which can bring about a sense of player ownership in the team.
The excitement should continue in year three under Fralick. The Spartans return leading scorer Grace VanSlooten from last year’s team. VanSlooten was recently named to USA Basketball’s FIBA AmeriCup roster, with competition beginning later this week in Santiago, Chile. In addition to VanSlooten, the Spartans bring back a strong core from last year including Theryn Hallock, Emma Shumate, and Inés Sotelo. They will be joined by a strong recruiting class and three impact transfers in Jalyn Brown (Arizona State), Marah Dykstra (Montana State), and Rashunda Jones (Purdue).
Key goals for the team might be advancing to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament after advancing to round two this past season, securing a sweep over rival Michigan, and getting a signature win or two in the rugged Big Ten conference. Last year’s top two finishers, UCLA and USC both come to Breslin Center next season so those games present huge opportunities for the Spartans to really announce their presence on the national scene.