March 22, 2006
ATLANTA -
Maryland head coach Brenda Frese is among four finalists named for the Naismith Award Women's Coach of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today. Frese, who is in her fourth season at the Terrapin helm, has guided the third-ranked and second-seeded Terps to its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1992.
Also named a finalists along with Frese are LSU's Pokey Chatman, Ohio State's Jim Foster and North Carolina's Sylvia Hatchell, making up the final ballot. The Naismith Award is the most prestigious national award presented annually to the men's and women's college basketball coaches of the year.
Finalists were chosen through a vote by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, who narrowed the mid-season list of 20 candidates down to the final four. The Board, which is comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country, based its criteria on coaching performances this season. The Women's College Coach of the Year Award winner will be named at the Naismith Awards banquet April 7 in Atlanta.
Frese has accomplished something no other coach has done this season, handing North Carolina its only loss, a 98-95 overtime triumph at Chapel Hill, N.C. The third-ranked Terrapins, who went 12-2 in the competitive Atlantic Coast Conference, also defeated then-No. 2 Duke in the semifinals of the ACC tournament and picked up its school-record 30th win of the season with an NCAA Tournament second-round victory over St. John's, 81-74, on Sunday. The Terps are making their third-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament under Frese, the first time Maryland has done that since 1991-93. Maryland's No. 2 seed is the program's highest since 1992 and a considerable improvement from their No. 7 seed in 2005.
For more information, visit www.naismithawards.com.
ABOUT THE ATLANTA TIPOFF CLUB
The Atlanta Tipoff Club, an Atlanta Sports Council property, is committed to promoting the game of basketball and recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of those who make the game so exciting. The Atlanta Tipoff Club has presented the Naismith Trophy since UCLA's Lew Alcindor first won the award in 1969. In 1987, Indiana's Bob Knight became the first men's college coach to win the Award.
The Naismith Awards program has become an emblem of excellence for the game, recognizing the men's and women's college players, coaches and officials of the year, and the male and female high school players of the year.
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