Maryland’s Brenda Frese named AP national coach of the year
“We’re so darn proud of you,” Bill said. “Almost makes you have tears in your eyes.”
The Maryland women’s basketball coach earned the honor for the second time after leading the Terrapins to a 26-3 record and the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. She is the fourth coach to win the award multiple times since its inception in 1995, joining U-Conn.’s Geno Auriemma, Baylor’s Kim Mulkey and Notre Dame’s Muffet McGraw.
“An incredible surprise,” Frese said. “Family is so important for me. So, to pull off that surprise to have my parents share that with me. My entire family was on the Zoom. I was with my entire Maryland family, as well. You couldn’t have scripted that any more perfectly.
“I didn’t make a basket all year. This award is about your players and your team and your support staff really lining up as one.”
Maryland entered the 2020-21 season without its five starters from the 2019-20 Big Ten championship team and without five of its top six scorers. With five new starters, including two sophomores and two transfers, the Terps won the conference championship for the sixth time in seven years and Big Ten tournament title for the second year in a row. The Terps were the highest-scoring team in the nation and set a program record averaging 90.8 points per game.
Maryland entered the tournament as a No. 2 seed, and the season came to a disappointing end Sunday with a 64-61 loss to No. 6-seeded Texas. The Terps had won their previous 15 games, including five postseason games, by double digits. Maryland won its three Big Ten tournament games by an average of 21 points and its first two NCAA tournament games by an average of 44.5 points.
“This one, obviously, is special for our team and for our program,” Frese said, “just because of everything we had to overcome as a team and obviously during this pandemic. I have just so much gratitude for an award like this because it’s not an award for me. It’s an award for your players and your staff.
“It was a season like no other. You look at the challenges. The fact that you couldn’t do it like you normally can. I’ve yet to have the team out to my home. You couldn’t do team building. … This sisterhood, this bond was created early over Zoom, ironically. … I think it speaks volumes to this team, just their talent level.”
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