Aug. 8, 2007

Quotes from Tuesday's Big Ten Day Press Conference:

MSU Athletics Director Ron Mason:

This is a great day and I am happy to be a part of it. I think as an athletic director the most important aspect of running a program is to see that your athletes are progressing both academically and athletically and we are giving them the best chance to be successful in life. This is what's part of the Big Ten Network, the fact that all of our 25 sports are going to receive coverage across the country. I think sometimes the visible sports are the ones we all look at, but by gosh, we have 750 athletes and it's more than just the wins and losses, it's going to be the people who are part of all that. There will be specials on the people that are out in the community or around the world doing things that a lot of people never hear about. Whether it be in the academic side of things or in the life skills portion of what we do, but I think that's what is really neat about this that we are going to see people not in their athletic uniforms but in their normal everyday life. That's what the Big Ten Network can bring to us.

I just want to thank (Big Ten Commissioner) Jim Delany for what he's done. I think this was an idea that was first discussed about three years ago and to bring this to fruition is an amazing accomplishment. So Jim, you deserve a lot of credit.

I think this thing is progressing the way we all wanted. I think it is an exciting new way to do business with communication the way it is today. We have to be at the cutting edge in the Big Ten. So thanks for being here and Go Green!

MSU Women's Head Basketball Coach Suzy Merchant:

I am just thrilled to be here representing women's sports in general. I can only speak from a coaches perspective - that's all I have ever been. From a coaching perspective I think the biggest thing for us is first and foremost recruiting. Recruiting is the frontline for what we do. If you don't have players you will not win games. First and foremost I think the impact that the Big Ten Network is going to have on our recruiting base is absolutely phenomenal. I think in recruiting sometimes you get hammered by allegedly power conferences, talking about your style of play in the Big Ten and what kind of players play in the Big Ten, so the fact that we are able to get our product out there and actually show these people how we play is a plus...We get up and down the court and we can play a little bit. So I am excited about the impact, first and foremost, it is going to have on recruiting.

I also think it says a lot about the Big Ten, speaking from a woman's perspective, that they are going to use equal programming. Fifty-fifty for women's sports and men's sports. I think that deserves a round of applause for sure.

Lastly, with the recruiting piece, it is going to include programming for our university as Ron Mason had said...The fact that they are going to have an opportunity to see what Michigan State is all about, not just basketball, but beyond basketball, I am really excited about that.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany:

It's great to be here today, it is great to be in the state of Michigan. I would like to talk about the Big Ten Conference and what it means to so many people not only throughout the Midwest and the state of Michigan, but also the country. What you see on Saturday in football or Tuesday and Thursday in basketball, the tremendous competition, belies the fact the tremendous teamwork and collaboration that exists among these 11 universities. It is personified not only at the highest level of the president, athletic director group, but also among the coaches. I can't tell you how pleased I was last week to see 11 football coaches come together in Chicago in front of 2,000 Big Ten fans and remember Randy Walker, Bo Schembechler, and Terry Hoeppner, and to talk about the meaning of the student-athlete within the Big Ten model. I can't tell you how important it has been to me to see Coach Izzo come from an assistant to a world-class coach and the leadership he has provided among his coaching peers. They are full-time, 24-7. Just like the Big Ten Network is 24-7, our coaches are 24-7, trying to make everything better for their athletes, for their universities.