There are four new kids on the block for MSU women’s basketball under second-year head coach Robyn Fralick ahead of Monday night's exhibition against Wayne State.
Two of the four transfers — graduate guard Nyla Hampton and junior forward Grace VanSlooten — have established themselves as key pieces for the upcoming season without playing a single game.
Hampton transferred from Ball State, her second collegiate stop after playing under Fralick for three seasons at Bowling Green. Hampton was voted one of two captains by her teammates alongside graduate guard Julia Ayrault.
"Credit to her for coming in new and earning that position," Fralick said at the team's media day on Oct. 22. "Knowing Nyla so well, I think what her teammates felt and saw was just her heartiness for the team. She’s composed, I think she’s the same everyday. She really cares about her teammates."
Last season at Ball State, Hampton averaged 8.8 points and 3.3 steals per game.
"From my experience, if you're a really good player at any level, you can help a team," Fralick said. "She has such a feel for how we play. She already knows the system. She's so disruptive and bigger than that, we just love her. She's somebody you want to be around every day. She has a really good feel for how to play and she's fit in seamlessly."
VanSlooten is a transfer from Oregon, already adding to the team’s style of play and helping it stretch the floor. She played a major role for the Ducks last season and brings an immediate impact to East Lansing.
"Grace is fast, athletic, long. I think our job is to figure out how to put her in spots on the court to be successful," Fralick said. "Defensively, she can guard a lot of spots. It moves us around a little bit. It allows Julia to play more of the floor, it makes us bigger. I think we’re a lot longer defensively at the rim being able to be disruptive."
The 6-foot-3 VanSlooten averaged 14.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game over her last two seasons at Oregon. She will add size to an MSU team that severely lacked it last season, when Fralick's best option at center was Ayrault, a traditional guard.
"It gives us another really good athlete on the court, like we’ll put Grace on top of the press," Fralick said. "We can move her to different spots and she rebounds. And I thought something coming out of last season that we thought could take us to another level was being a better rebounding team on both ends of the court."
MSU's exhibition match against Wayne State tips off tonight, Oct. 28, at 6:30 p.m. at Breslin Center.
Its season will officially start on Nov. 5 against Oakland at Breslin, with tip-off scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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