Traveling Full Circle

It's interesting how fate can take a career full circle. Veteran basketball coach Dean Lockwood, best known in women's basketball circles for his successes with the Pat Summitt-led Tennessee title teams, has come back to where his career started.

The state of Michigan.

Lockwood, who grew up in Bay City, played for Spring Arbor College and has a master's degree from Central Michigan, joined Michigan State's women's coaching staff over the summer as an associate head coach.

His addition to the Spartans staff is another chapter in the interesting journey he has shared with head coach Suzy Merchant.

"In coaching, a lot of times your paths interweave and cross over each other through the years, and that's kind of how it's been with Suzy and me," said Lockwood. "This past spring when coach [Holly] Warlick's contract wasn't renewed at Tennessee, I was in that in-between stage. Then Suzy reached out, and things worked out very well. I'm very thankful."

But first, here's some history: Merchant and Lockwood became acquainted in 1992. From 1986-91, Lockwood coached the men's basketball team at Tennessee and, in doing so, developed a close relationship with the women's coach - Summitt. Lockwood moved to Michigan in 1991; becoming the head men's coach at Northwood University. Soon, the two crossed paths, as Merchant was an assistant coach at Oakland.

In 1995, Merchant applied for the women's head coaching gig at Saginaw Valley State. Lockwood, a former head coach for the SVSU men's team, vouched to Summitt on her behalf. In turn, Summitt put in a good word for Merchant, and her head coaching career began.

Some 24 years later, Merchant and Lockwood are coaching together, for MSU.

Lockwood's primary focus has been MSU's front court and post players. His goal is for his players to establish a physical presence in the paint and to execute cleaner finishes. The Spartans won their first five games of the season, and Lockwood's techniques have been a huge help down low.

The women have out-rebounded their opponents by a margin of 6.3 and average 43.3 rebounds per game. At the end of last season, MSU's rebound margin was 2.5, and their rebounds per game totaled 38.2. This has been a major area of improvement so far, and Lockwood's frontcourt has found success by re-exploring the basic fundamentals of the game.

"Dean is very fundamentally-driven," said senior forward Victoria Gaines. "A lot of coaches at this level want to enhance your skill in what you're good in. Coach critiques everything starting from the bottom and works his way up."

"Working on footwork is such an important part of the game; I don't care if you're on offense or defense," said Lockwood. "We've tried to pay a good bit of attention to detail in our breakdown and positional work so far this season."

Lockwood credits much of his understanding of the game and treatment of others to his relationship with Summitt at Tennessee. The two met when Lockwood was UT's assistant men's coach in 1986. He joined her staff in 2004, helping lead the Lady Volunteers to two consecutive NCAA titles, in 2007 and 2008.

"She took great care of her people, and she got so much loyalty because she gave it. I could probably write a short book on the things I learned from Pat and still not do it justice," said Lockwood.

Lockwood coached men's basketball for 21 years, at places such as West Point, Tennessee, Northwood, Central Michigan, and Saginaw Valley. Since his departure from SVSU in 2004, he has only coached women's basketball.

Something he learned during his time with Summitt is how to effectively coach a female-dominant sport as a man. Being more relationally evolved and accepting is vital, and Lockwood said being emotionally compassionate has more importance in women's basketball than it does men's.

Finding the correct balance between being critical and understanding is tricky, and it has taken Lockwood time to find that answer out for himself.

"We don't usually get to see a man's perspective on the game, and he has a great way of balancing everyone out," said Gaines. "Regardless of gender, his approach is really positive and calming – even though he is loud."

Junior forward Mardrekia Cook added, "He's gritty and super smart; I'm not even talking about basketball. The way he relates stories to basketball to make me think deeper about my choices is very inspiring. Since he's been here, he's been someone I can count on to keep me level-headed and working hard."

Players Mentioned

Mardrekia Cook

Victoria Gaines

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