Diane Spoelstra will be inducted into MSU's Athletics Hall of Fame in September (MSU courtesy photo)
Diane Spoelstra will be inducted into MSU's Athletics Hall of Fame in September.
GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) Diane Spoelstra says she never felt like a "pioneer" in women's sports. But she left a legacy at Michigan State University so profound she has been named a 2012 MSU Athletic Hall of Fame inductee.
The former East Kentwood High School student is, by MSU's account, one of only two three-sport female athletes in MSU history. Spoelstra starred in basketball, softball and volleyball from 1975-1978 and was a member of the Spartan's 1976 national championship softball team. "We were at the beginning stages of Title IX," Spoelstra told WZZM on Friday. "That's why we were the pioneers. That opened up everything for young women at that time. I think we knew we were at the beginning stages of everything. I'm proud that I was part of that sports legacy and to see where it's progressed."
Spoelstra was an education major at MSU and admits it was hard to fit three sports seasons in with her studies. "My social life was just practices and the discipline that it took. I don't think I really thought about it back then that much. I was a natural athlete and I just went from one sport to the next."
Spoelstra, who took classes at MSU with basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson and football and baseball star Kirk Gibson, will be one of six inductees in September. The others include former basketball star Shawn Respert and football great Carl Banks. "When I first got the phone call I was overwhelmed. It's just a tremendous honor to be inducted into the Michigan State Hall of Fame. It's very humbling."