Michigan State women’s basketball head coach Suzy Merchant announced Monday that Tempie Brown has been promoted to Associate Head Coach, after spending the last four seasons as an assistant coach on her staff.
"We are thrilled to announce the promotion of Tempie to Associate Head Coach," said Merchant. "She continues to show tremendous leadership and impact that has translated to the success of Michigan State women’s basketball. It is a deserving promotion and we look forward to her continued contributions to our program."
"I would like to thank Coach Merchant for the great and humbling opportunity to take the next step in my coaching career," said Brown. "She has been a tremendous mentor and I am committed to the growth and success of our program. The fact that this opportunity allows me to be a part of the remarkable success Coach Merchant has built with the support of President Simon, Mark Hollis and Shelley Appelbaum makes being a Spartan something extraordinary."
Brown is the staff’s academic liaison, strength and conditioning coordinator, and perimeter position coach, while also playing a key role in scouting its upcoming opponents.
Five Spartan guards have earned All-Big Ten honors during Brown’s tenure – Jasmine Thomas (2013), Kiana Johnson (2013), Klarissa Bell (2013), Porsche Poole (2012) and Brittney Thomas (2010, 2011).
Brown has been instrumental in the development of Bell over the past two seasons. After averaging 2.5 points and 2.1 rebounds as a freshman, she increased her output to team bests of 10.5 points and 6.1 rebounds last season as a junior. In addition, both Thomas and Poole more than doubled their scoring averages their senior seasons, en route to team MVP and all-conference recognition. Meanwhile, Johnson has led MSU in assists in each of her two seasons, while ranking second in the Spartan career record book in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.78), sixth in career assist average (4.1) and eighth in career steals average (1.8).
Off the court, Brown oversaw the team’s academic success over the past couple years as the staff’s liaison to Student-Athlete Support Services (SASS). After this past fall semester, the team’s cumulative GPA is 3.1731, the highest in program history. In her four seasons, 21 Spartans have earned Academic All-Big Ten honors, while three have been Big Ten Distinguished Scholars.
During her four seasons, the Spartans have gone 95-37 overall, finishing third or better in the Big Ten each season with a combined 46-20 conference record. MSU has appeared in the NCAA Tournament all four seasons.
Last summer, Brown attended the Nike Villa 7, which brings together university athletic directors and the country’s elite assistant basketball coaches in an effort to prepare the next generation of college basketball leaders. In the summer of 2009, she completed the NCAA Black Coaches & Administrators Achieving Coaching Excellence (ACE) Program, which provides professional development opportunities for current NCAA collegiate men’s and women’s basketball coaches.
Stay with HoopDirt for the latest college basketball coaching news and rumors.
