The MSU women's basketball program established itself as an organization of national superiority two seasons ago when it reached the national championship game.
Last year, the team made it to the Sweet 16, further cementing the success of the program.
But gone are the days of Kristin Haynie, Kelli Roehrig, Lindsay Bowen and Liz Shimek, and now it's time for senior captains Victoria Lucas-Perry, Rene Haynes and Katrina Grantham to lead the team into a new era of basketball as the upcoming season looms.
Five letterwinners from last year — including Shimek and Bowen, MSU's all-time No. 1 and 2 scorers — have left the team either via graduation or transfer.
But MSU seventh-year head coach Joanne P. McCallie doesn't see leadership as a problem.
"We've got three terrific captains right now," McCallie said Wednesday at Media Day. "They're ready to be their own leaders. Victoria, Katrina and Rene are some of the best leaders we've ever had in our program, even from a young age.
"They've learned a lot from all the people that have come before them. They know the work it takes, and they don't blow smoke about it either."
Combined with senior forward Myisha Bannister, McCallie has a well-rounded class of veterans who she can turn to for leadership.
"It's just a real treat to go to practice every day with basically four seniors that can kind of run the show," McCallie said.
McCallie also has added three freshmen — 6-foot-9 center Allyssa DeHaan and guards Mandy Piechowski and Takeya Fortner — to complement the nine returning letterwinners on the team. All will see playing time and add respective intangibles to contribute to the makeup of the squad.
"We're a fairly quick team this year, a little more athletic," McCallie said. "We're a little bit faster down the floor. It's a pretty versatile team."
McCallie has Lucas-Perry, Piechowski and Haynes penciled in to run the point in Bowen's absence, and she doesn't expect the offense to miss a beat.
"It will be a very balanced team," she said. "There won't be any one person. I think it will balance across."
But despite the new faces and larger roles to fill for many of the Spartans, expectations for McCallie's team haven't lessened.
"We're just trying to get more championships, more hardware, more things to be proud of," she said. "The goals and the philosophy of our program will always be to pursue to the highest level and have fun doing it."
The Spartans will kick off their season Oct. 25 when they play their annual intrasquad Green and White game. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
