Suzy Merchant '91

Suzy is the head coach for the Michigan State University Women’s basketball team.  She is married to Gary Rakan (1993 BSBA Marketing) and has two sons, Tyler and Brady Rakan. 

At CMU, she played four seasons as a guard.  She was a four-year starter and 3-year captain. 

Just out of college, she was assistant coach at Oakland University (1992-1995).  She then went on to become head coach at Saginaw Valley State University. 

After inheriting a team with a losing record, Merchant quickly built the SVSU program into a winner, compiling a 54-29 record during her three-year tenure as head coach. During her second season, the team earned a berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second time in school history. In her final season, Saginaw Valley State collected a 20-7 record, and was ranked as high as 15th in the nation during the season. 

From 1998 to 2007, she was at Eastern Michigan University.  While there, she compiled a record of 147-91, including three 20-win seasons, three postseason appearances and two Mid-American Conference West Division titles. Merchant's 2003-04 Eastern Michigan team claimed the MAC West Division and MAC Tournament championships for the first time in school history, earning the program's first-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament. She followed that impressive season by winning 23 games in 2004-05, the most in school history. 

In 2005-06, the Eagles reached the 20-win plateau for the third consecutive season and won their second MAC West title with a 15-1 conference record, notching the most league wins in school history. Their 22-8 overall record put them into the postseason for the third straight year. While on maternity leave for most of last season, Merchant's Eagles finished second in the MAC West Division with a 10-6 league record and finished 16-13 overall. 

Merchant was named head coach at Michigan State on Monday April 30, 2007.  Through her first five seasons, Merchant brought the Spartan program to a level of consistency at the Big Ten and national level. The Spartans have finished second or better in the Big Ten in each of the last four seasons, and her conference record of 59-27 (68.6%) is the 10th-best career winning percentage in the 31-year history of the Big Ten, and is the second highest percentage among active coaches. Nationally, the Spartans have won at least 20 games in each of her five seasons and are one of 22 teams nationally to have advanced to the last four NCAA Tournaments. 

Through her first five seasons at MSU, 17 Spartans have earned All-Big Ten recognition (the most in the conference) and 23 have been named Academic All-Big Ten. 

Merchant put her stamp on the Spartan program during the 2010-11 season, leading the Spartans to their first outright Big Ten title in school history. 

In the summer of 2009, Merchant spent time with USA Basketball as an assistant coach for the Women's World University Games team in Belgrade, Serbia. Team USA went undefeated and took home the Gold medal, topping Russia, 83-64 in the championship game.