Forest Park’s Gussert signs with MSU

Forest Park senior Lexi Gussert signed her national letter of intent to play basketball next season at Michigan State on Wednesday. The Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association ‘Dream Team’ selection will join head coach Suzy Merchant and the Spartans in East Lansing for the 2014-15 season.

Gussert verbally committed to play at MSU back in July. The future Spartan was recruited by some big name schools. The University of Tennessee and UCONN showed interest in her last season.

In the end, Gussert chose to sign with the team that recruited her from the very beginning.

“They were actually the first BCS (Bowl Championship Series) school to start recruiting me since I visited there my freshman year,” said Gussert about the Spartans. “Ever since then, Suzy (Merchant) has came up here a lot and she’s always shown a lot of support for me. I just wanted to play in my home state and there’s not a better school than Michigan State in my opinion.”

“I knew that the school was going to come out, but I didn’t think it was going to be this big of a deal,” said Gussert about the people who showed up for her big day. “I don’t have anything to say, I’m in shock still.”

By signing with Michigan State, Gussert can now squarely focus on the Trojans’ upcoming basketball season.

“I’m always focused on the team, but now there are no distractions so we can get the job done,” said Gussert. “It feels great to be a Spartan, but I’m not their yet, so I still have to keep working hard.”

Gussert averaged 32 points and 11 rebounds per game last season for Forest Park. She was named the Class D player of the year in the U.P. by the UPSSA.