he Western Michigan Division of Intercollegiate Athletics officially announced the hiring of Shane Clipfell as the sixth women’s basketball coach in program history, Friday, April 13. For the last 14 years, Clipfell has worked in different capacities on a Suzy Merchant staff. He began with Merchant as an assistant at Eastern Michigan during the 1998-99 season and has been at Michigan State the last five years after Merchant took the Spartan helm in 2007-08. For the past three years, Clipfell has served as the associate head coach at Michigan State, coordinating the program’s recruiting efforts, including organizing official, unofficial, off-campus and home visits. Prior to joining Merchant’s staff at Eastern Michigan, Clipfell spent five seasons at Glen Oaks Community College, including three as head coach, and 11 years as the varsity head coach at Colon High School.