Brenda Frese
Brenda Sue Frese (born April 30, 1970)[1] is an American women's basketball head coach and former player. Since 2002, she has served as the head coach of the University of Maryland women's basketball team. In her fourth year as head coach, she won the 2006 Women's National Championship. She won the 2009 ACC Regular Season and Tournament Championships – the women's first ACC Championship since 1989. She won another ACC Championship in 2012 and reached another Final Four in 2014. Maryland moved to the Big Ten for the 2014–15 season and Frese led the Terrapins to an undefeated 18–0 conference record and a Big Ten Regular Season Championship in their first year in the Big Ten. She was voted AP National Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2021,[2] ACC Coach of the Year in 2013, Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2002, 2015, 2019, and 2021, and MAC Coach of the Year in 2000. At Maryland, she's coached four ACC Players of the Year and four ACC Freshmen of the Year.
Brenda Frese is the daughter of Bill and Donna Frese. She has five siblings: Deb, Cindy, Marsha, Stacy, and Jeff.[3] She attended Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[3] While in high school, Frese played on the basketball and volleyball teams for four years, as well as the track and softball teams for one year. She was a four-year basketball letterwinner, an Honorable Mention All-American and Iowa state champion in 1988, and an all-state and all-metro player from 1986 to 1988.[3]
Frese attended the University of Arizona as an undergraduate student. From 1989 until 1993 she played three seasons for the varsity basketball team. In 1989, she was selected for a Pac-10 tour of West Germany. Frese graduated from the university with a Bachelor of Arts in communications in 1993. In 1995, she graduated from Kent State University with a master's degree in Athletic Administration.[3]
While injured as a player at the University of Arizona, Brenda Frese volunteered as an assistant coach at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona. Upon graduation, she immediately began pursuing a career in coaching, driving across the country to attend an NCAA Final Four and working various basketball camps. Frese's career officially started in 1994 as an assistant coach at Kent State and Iowa State and then spent three years as head coach at Ball State and Minnesota. In her very first game as a head coach, Frese led Ball State to an upset win over Minnesota. Less than two years later, Minnesota hired Frese as their new head coach. During her 2001–02 season at Minnesota, she led a one-year turnaround of 8–20 to 22–8, one of the biggest in NCAA history. Minnesota made it to the 2nd round of the NCAA Championship that year, and Frese was named the AP National Coach of the Year for 2002. Minnesota's fan base quickly grew and the team was able to make a move to start playing its games in the same arena as the men's team. After turning around the Minnesota program, Frese became a sought after coach and drew interest from Maryland, Ohio State and Florida. Maryland Athletic Director Debbie Yowsealed the deal the night of the 2002 Men's NCAA Basketball Championship game, in which Maryland defeated Indiana for the national championship.
When Frese arrived at Maryland prior to the 2002–03 season, she brought with her the buzz of a rising star in the women's hoops coaching world, as well as a remarkable recruiting acumen. Her first highly coveted recruits, Shay Doron and Kalika France, marked the beginning of an ever-expanding stream of blue-chip talent choosing to take their talents to College Park.
