April 2, 2002
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What They Are Saying...About Brenda Frese
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Brenda Frese, who was named Associated Press Division I National Coach of the Year this past season after directing a remarkable turnaround in her first season as head coach at the University of Minnesota, has been named head women's basketball coach at the University of Maryland, director of athletics Deborah A. Yow announced.
Frese, 31, replaces Chris Weller, who announced her retirement last month after 27 seasons as the Terps' head coach. Frese signed a six-year contract. Her guaranteed compensation is $275,000 per year.
"Coach Frese has a superb record of achievement as a head coach in two different Division I conferences," said Yow. "She is an overachiever...a dynamic and determined leader as a coach. Over time, she will put our program in a position to compete for the national championship as one of the elite women's basketball programs in the country."
Said Frese, "I am honored to be recognized as the next coach to help lead Maryland women's basketball to be a national level contender. This is a dream and a chance of a lifetime, and I knew it was a special fit. I am looking forward with great enthusiasm to working under the outstanding leadership of Debbie Yow and her staff, and with all the other outstanding coaches and teams at the University of Maryland."
In three seasons as a Division I head coach, including two at Ball State, Frese has forged a reputation for overseeing dramatic turnarounds in her programs, compiling an impressive 57-30 (.655) record despite inheriting challenging circumstances in both former positions. She has earned conference Coach of the Year recognition in both leagues in which she has worked as a head coach, pulling down Big Ten Coach of the Year honors in 2002 and Mid-American Coach of the Year accolades in 2000.
At Minnesota this past season, she was at the controls for one of the biggest one-season turnarounds in NCAA history, leading the Golden Gophers to a 22-8 record one year after the program posted an 8-20 ledger. The Golden Gophers set a school record with their 22 victories, tied for second in the Big Ten Conference with an 11-5 mark and made only the second NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. The Golden Gophers were seeded fifth in the NCAA Tournament and defeated UNLV in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before being eliminated by North Carolina in the second round.
The Golden Gophers' 10-win improvement in the win-loss column in Big Ten action marked the biggest one-year improvement in conference history. Moreover, the 11 Big Ten wins were three more than Minnesota totaled in the previous six seasons combined. Minnesota also achieved its highest ranking in school history when it was listed 14th in the Associated Press Top 25 in mid-February. The Golden Gophers were ranked 18th in the final regular season AP poll.
At Ball State, where she served as head coach during the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons, she led the Cardinals to only the second back-to-back winning seasons in school history, posting a school-best 19-9 mark in 2001 and a 16-13 showing in 2000. Ball State was a cumulative 66-169 in the nine seasons prior to Frese's arrival. The 2000-01 Ball State team received votes in the AP poll during the season, climbing as high as No. 28 in the country.
Fan support increased significantly at both Minnesota and Ball State under Frese's leadership. Bouyed by the best start (9-1) in school history last season, the Golden Gophers finished the season ranked 19th nationally in home attendance average (4,360), including an average of 8,828 fans during the second half of the campaign when the team moved to Williams Arena from the Sports Pavilion. The Gophers attracted the top four crowds in school history, including a record attendance of 12,142 vs. Michigan State and a crowd of 11,389 vs. Indiana. Frese's 2000-01 Ball State team posted a 10-2 home record and set a single-season home attendance record.
Frese is a 1993 graduate of the University of Arizona, where she was a three-year starter and four-year letterwinner for the Wildcats. When injuries sidelined her during her senior season, she joined the Pima Community College coaching staff in Tucson, Ariz., as an assistant coach in charge of recruiting and scouting.
She launched her Division I coaching career as an assistant coach at Kent State University, helping the Golden Flashes to records of 20-8 (1994) and 17-10 (1995). The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native then joined Bill Fennelly's staff at Iowa State as the Cyclones' recruiting coordinator where she assisted in another impressive turnaround, helping ISU to three NCAA Tournament appearances in four years. All told, the Cyclones posted a composite record of 84-38 with Frese as an assistant, including a 17-10 record in 1995-96 when Iowa State recorded the biggest one-season turnaround in school history. In 1997, the Cyclones made their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, a feat they duplicated in 1998 and 1999 with identical 25-8 records. In 1999, Iowa State was ranked among the nation's top 25 for the entire season and came within one victory of reaching the Final Four.
During her stay at Iowa State, her 1998-99 recruiting class was ranked among the nation's top 10, and the Cyclones enjoyed tremendous success at the gate, drawing a record crowd of 12,337 vs. Santa Clara in the first round of an NCAA Tournament game played in Ames, Iowa, and rewriting Iowa State's single-season attendance mark multiple times.
Frese earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Arizona in 1993 and a master's in athletic administration from Kent State in 1995. She married Steve Frese in 1998.
Frese's NCAA Division I Coaching Career
Year Institution Record
1994 Asst. Coach, Kent State 20-8
1995 Asst. Coach, Kent State 17-10
1996 Asst. Coach, Iowa State 17-10
1997 Asst. Coach, Iowa State 17-12
1998 Asst. Coach, Iowa State 25-8
1999 Asst. Coach, Iowa State 25-8
2000 Head Coach, Ball State 16-13
2001 Head Coach, Ball State 19-9
2002 Head Coach, Minnesota 22-8
