May 15, 2009
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - University of Maryland head coach Brenda Frese announced today that Erica Floyd has decided to step down from her post as assistant coach of the Terrapins women's basketball team and will pursue other opportunities outside of coaching in Louisiana.
Floyd spent nine total seasons on the bench with Frese at various stops and 16 years overall as a college basketball assistant.
"I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that was given to me at Maryland," Floyd said. "Over the years of working together in this profession with Brenda we have built a great friendship and I thank her for the chance to join her on the sidelines.
"I have enjoyed my time in College Park and will miss everything about this program and university. I am thrilled with all the accomplishments the women's basketball program has achieved and proud to say that I was a part of it all. As hard as this is to walk away, I will cherish all the memories and will miss the student-athletes - past, present and future - and their families, all of whom have played such a large role in my life. I wish them well in everything that they do on and off the court. I will forever be a Terp!"
Floyd was an assistant during all seven seasons of Frese's tenure at Maryland beginning in 2002-03. Prior to that initial campaign in College Park, Floyd was a part of Frese's staff at Minnesota for the 2001-02 season when Frese was named Associated Press National Coach of the Year.
The duo began their professional relationship in 1994, when both were assistant coaches at Kent State. Floyd spent four seasons with the Golden Flashes before a three-year stint at Cleveland State. The Kent, Ohio, native was then reunited with Frese for one season at Minnesota prior to departing for Maryland.
Four years after coming to Maryland, the Terrapins claimed the school's first national championship in 2006. In total, the Terps qualified for six NCAA Tournaments during Floyd's term and went 176-60 (.746) overall.
"Erica is always going to be a part of the Maryland family," Frese said. "She's meant so much to us and is more than just a co-worker. We've been through seemingly everything together - from being new assistants in the Mid-American Conference, to building the Maryland program. My kids have fallen asleep in her arms. We're in a profession that doesn't leave much time for a personal life and I know that she is very much a family person. Because of that, I'm very happy for her that she can leave on her own terms and start an incredible new chapter in her life."
Floyd, an Ohio State alum, was named Ohio's Gatorade High School Player of the Year in 1988 before embarking on a successful collegiate career. She helped the Buckeyes to a share of the 1989 Big Ten title.
