EAST LANSING — Among Robyn Fralick’s favorite parts of being a college basketball coach in these dynamic times is the “constant problem-solving” — the puzzle of an ever-changing roster, how to best use the players she has, and figuring out how to win the game in front of her.
“I actually love that. I love challenges. I love problem-solving,” Fralick said.
That’s good. Because, in college basketball in 2026, there are constantly a lot of problems to solve. Last season and the months since for Michigan State’s women’s basketball program have been no exception.
Fralick’s third season at MSU came with more tangible, incremental improvement, and with the challenge of a few lengthy injuries. It came with a memorable January, a humbling February, and a March that didn’t quite live up to the promise of the season’s best days, though still ended just six points from the Sweet 16. And then April brought with it several notable players leaving, along with a few interesting player additions.
And so the Fralick era at MSU begins Year 4, with a lot going on.
“We feel really good about the trajectory,” Fralick said last week, “going from a 9 seed (in the NCAA tournament in Year 1), to a 7 seed (in Year 2), to a 5 seed — and yet, the 5 seed this year, we knew we were probably one win away, play better in the Big Ten tournament and we’re hosting (in the NCAA tournament as a 4 seed), which is a huge deal, and we know that.
“To continue to get to that next level, it takes so many parts. The league’s gotten way better, even from my first year, we’ve added teams. … But for us, I think that next step is hosting (in the NCAA tournament), and I do believe if we played better in the Big Ten tournament, we would have taken that step. And how do we do that? Put our heads together, brainstorm, and try to figure out how to get the most out of this group — which has also been fun.
“You used to be able to build out a roster and build out a system, and now we’ve got to be a little more nimble and swift in figuring out our team and putting them in positions to be successful, even if it’s a little bit different than the year before.”
Gone are Grace VanSlooten (to the WNBA’s Seattle Storm and now Indiana Fever) and Jalyn Brown to pursue a pro career, and, to the transfer portal, Rashunda Jones (Arizona State), Ines Sotelo (Stanford) and Juliann Woodard (High Point). The losses of Jones and Sotelo, two starters, were especially notable, though also just part of today’s college basketball culture, even if hasn’t been felt as much on the men’s side at MSU.
“I think you get better at compartmentalizing, because, even five years ago, if a kid left it, there was a whole different level of sting to that,” Fralick said about losing players each season that she and her staff have poured time and care into. And there still is. There’s still a human element and a human quality to this. I mean, I don’t think anybody sleeps better at night with that. But I just think you get a little bit thicker skin. You can compartmentalize it, and then we’ve got to move quickly. There’s not a whole lot of time to sit around processing through all the feelings of it. There’s an immediate need to make sure our program remains in a good spot.”
On that front, MSU has some important and intriguing returners and newcomers, including junior guard Kennedy Blair, who will be rejoined in the backcourt by Theryn Hallock, who missed most of last season with a foot injury and took a medical redshirt.
“We had a lot of good conversations last year when she was out,” Fralick said of Hallock. “She knew that we always wanted her back at Michigan State. We knew she still had another year of eligibility, and those are things you have to sort through, and I think it’s hard to have a clear answer right in the middle of a season.
“She loves Michigan State, she’s a Spartan through and through. I know she’s really excited about (coming back). It’s hard to be out, and we talked a lot about her impact here. I mean, people feel something about her here, like she has a connection with the fan base and the program and the university.”
Meanwhile, Blair’s surprising breakout season — 14.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game — was the catalyst behind much of MSU’s success.
“Her biggest growth (going forward) is going to come in shooting, just being able to shoot the 3 consistently, shoot outside of the paint,” Fralick said. “She knows that. That’s the thing she’s definitely spending the most time on, because that will increase her ability to get to the paint, to get to the free-throw line, to create more advantages and openings for her teammates.”
There is no bigger addition, literally, than incoming freshman Lilly Williams, a 6-foot-5 center from Howell, who was named Michigan’s Miss Basketball and is a top-20 recruit nationally.
“She’s one of the top-ranked recruits we’ve had in our program in a long time,” Fralick said. “I’m excited to see — there’s so much you learn once they’re here and once you get going. … But her size and her athleticism are unique. And in our league, to have that combination is imperative. I think her ability to be a rim protector and a rebounder, defender, we feel really confident about, and we know she’s going to continue to develop. But her athleticism and her size, it’s a really special combination that we’re excited by how she’s going to help us right away. … We haven’t had a 6-5 kid that can move and dunk, and you know we’re like really, really eager to get to work with her.”
Williams could impact MSU’s approach to the game. Fralick and her staff are not married to one style of play. Sure, there’s a style preference, but It’s about the strengths of the roster and weaknesses of the opponent.
“We were even talking this morning as a staff, like, ‘How does (Williams) change how we guard defensively?’ ” Fralick said. “I mean, we’ve been sort of undersized, so we’ve been aggressive and kind of pushed people back. We see Lilly as a true rim protector, so I think we’ve got to make sure that we’re putting her in positions and situations to use those strengths.”
MSU’s other two incoming freshmen are French — 5-7 guard Emma Broliron and 6-2 forward Kathy-Emma Otto — continuing foreign recruitment facilitated by MSU director of recruiting Joel Whymer. Broliron and Otto will be with the French national team program over the summer, Fralick said, enrolling for the fall semester.
NIL and the transfer portal have made the women’s college game more transactional and rosters more year to year, just like with the men’s game. But the women’s game is also now more attractive to top young players around the world.
“Those are two kids that probably in the past wouldn’t have come over to the states to play, but with the new opportunities we have here, they were eager to come over,” Fralick said. “… They’ve played a lot of high-level basketball already.”
“Emma Broliron (is) really crafty, can score, high IQ, good feel. And then Kathy-Emma Otto, really athletic, she’s 6-2, but she tested at the (Nike) Hoop Summit with a 6-10 wingspan, so really good length and size and mobility.”
Also joining the program, out of the transfer portal: Butler’s Anna Wypych (a former Michigan Miss Basketball out of Rockford), Colorado’s Tabitha Betson (a 6-2 starter for an NCAA tournament team) and West Virginia’s Carter McCray (a 6-1 forward who started for the Mountaineers but had a better sophomore season at Wisconsin a year earlier, after starring at Northern Kentucky as a freshman.)
“It’s our job always to see them with fresh eyes, and it’s our job to put them in the positions for our team to be the most successful we can be,” Fralick said. “But we definitely feel excited about the transfers and the new kids from a from a fit perspective, from an ability perspective (and) from a needs perspective.”
If MSU has the goods, it’ll show up in Big Ten play, an unforgiving league that sent 12 teams to the NCAA tournament this past season, including national champion UCLA. The question is how well we’ll know this MSU team early. The Spartans last season dominated a November schedule that began with six overmatched mid- and low-major opponents, all at home.
“’It’s tricky, because we play 18 Big Ten games and, with the expanded (NCAA) tournament, we could have up to 13 or 14 NCAA tournament teams within our league,” Fralick said. “It’s a balance. We are doing more home-and-home (non-conference series).”
Taking the next step in the Big Ten is largely a matter of talent, development and seasoning. But it’s also a matter of winning in the margins. Rare is there a team like that senior-laden, WNBA-bound UCLA team last season that could impose its will on any team in the Big Ten, any night, in any venue.
“Something I thought that our team and our staff did really well was, ‘This is how we win this game,’ ” Fralick said, “as opposed to like just having one superpower that could win games. That looked a little bit different night in and night out, and I think we have to continue to be able to see the game and that perspective.”
That’s something Fralick says she’s improved at in her career. She’s getting some more valuable professional development this month as an assistant coach for USA Basketball’s U18 National Team in the FIBA AmeriCup June 9-15 in Mexico. Fralick helped out during training last summer as a court coach.
“Really grateful, eager,” Fralick said, days before leaving for training camp in Colorado Springs. “You get to coach the best (U18) players in the country, and then you have an opportunity to win a gold medal. And one of my favorite parts is the coaching community and camaraderie, because you just get to learn from some really, really good coaches.”
Then it’s back to the problem-solving in East Lansing.
“I’m proud of the growth, and we know we have to keep digging in to keep finding ways to get to that next level,” Fralick said. “And the cool thing is, we keep being challenged. I just finished my 11th year being a head coach, and I feel like I’m constantly being pushed to learn more, and so that part is invigorating.”
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Couch: Robyn Fralick eyes the next step for Michigan State women’s basketball
Reporting by Graham Couch, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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