STARKVILLE — Consider Sharon Fanning-Otis impressed.
Mississippi State University’s recently retired women’s basketball coach was in attendance Tuesday to welcome Vic Schaefer to Starkville to be the seventh coach in the program’s history.
Fanning-Otis built much of what Schaefer inherits. Fanning-Otis won a school-record 281 games in 17 years at MSU. She guided the program to six NCAA tournaments, including its first run to the Sweet 16 in 2009-10. She is confident Schaefer can help MSU build on its potential and the recent addition of the $11-plus million Mize Pavilion, the practice facility for the men’s and women’s basketball programs, to take the next step.
“I watched Vic and competed against him for many years, and the first word I attach to him is winner,” Fanning-Otis said Tuesday. He has a great work ethic and he is a competitor. As I see coaches and watch them during the summer (on recruiting trips), he surely is one who has paid his dues.”
Fanning-Otis has cleaned out her office in the Mize Pavilion and will take time to transition into her new role in athletic development with the Bulldog Club. Her goal is to give Schaefer and the assistant coaches he will hire space to do what they want and to mold the program in their vision.
Fanning-Otis’ vision for the program remains positive. Planning continues to move forward for the team’s annual banquet April 23. She said she and current staff members have been in touch with signees Jessy Ward, a 5-foot-8 guard, Sherise Williams, a 6-2 forward, and Dominique Brooks, a 6-4 center, and everyone seems to be on board and OK with the fact there was going to be a coaching change.
If those three players enroll at MSU, Fanning-Otis said the program could have 12 of its 15 scholarship positions filled. The Lady Bulldogs lose six seniors, including leading scorers Diamber Johnson and Porsha Porter, and could return nine letterwinners next season.
“I am excited about the next phase for women’s basketball,” Fanning-Otis said. “We have played in a conference championship, we have had the All-Americans, we have been to the Sweet 16, and we have had some pretty basketball good teams. I look forward to the conference championship, to the Elite Eight, to the Final Four. I want to be a part of this family and to help them get there.”
Fanning-Otis feels a freshman class that includes guard Kendra Grant, who was third on the team in scoring at 7.3 points per game, and center Martha Alwal, who was fourth on the team in scoring (5.4 ppg.) and led the team in rebounding (7.2 per game), could anchor the program for the next three seasons. She also feels point guard Jerica James and guard/forward Shamia Robinson have the potential to contribute.
How those players factor into Schaefer’s system, though, remains to be seen. Schaefer returned to College Station, Texas, on Tuesday after he was introduced as MSU’s new coach to help the team prepare for its first-round NCAA tournament game against the University of Albany on Saturday. Schaefer, a longtime assistant and associate head coach for Gary Blair at the University of Arkansas and Texas A&M, is known as a defensive coach and as a recruiter. He played keys roles in both facets of the program in Texas A&M’s run to the national title last season.
Fanning-Otis feels Schaefer’s experience and track record will be great assets to MSU.
“He has done a tremendous job,” Fanning-Otis said. “Gary Blair always points to him as the one who is in charge of that defense that makes them go. He is a super guy. (Tuesday) was the first time I really got to meet his family, and he has a tremendous family, and we welcome them to be a part of our Starkville community. I believe he is a gentleman who can take this program in the next phase, and I look forward to the championships that are headed their way.”
As for her new role, Fanning-Otis said she has talked with MSU Director of Athletics Scott Stricklin about things she feels other programs need to help them win championships. She also has heard from coaches at MSU who have told her what they would like to have to build their programs. She said her goal is to assist in whatever way she can to help all of the coaches and student-athletes have the best experiences at MSU and to help them develop top-notch programs that will compete at the highest levels, just like she did as coach of the women’s basketball team.
“I feel we have made progress. I think we have taken through the years the various staffs and players there has been a lot of recognition,” Fanning-Otis said. “I think nationally Mississippi State has gotten on the map. I think there is respect for our program, and I think this is a job a lot of people would want. … I think this is a great time to be a part of Mississippi State athletics. There is a vision for them to attain. It hasn’t all been done, but there has been some groundwork that has been laid that is good. They are going to take it in their new direction and what they have to give and their energy, and that is what should be exciting, that there is a base and it is something they can grow in their way.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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