Maryland's Frese Receives Academy's Stringer Coaching Award
Brenda Frese, head coach of the 2006 National Champion University of Maryland women’s basketball team, has been honored with the United States Sports Academy’s C. Vivian Stringer Coaching Award. Academy President Dr. Thomas P. Rosandich presented Coach Frese with the award at a private ceremony 25 April at the Comcast Center.
Frese, who grew up in Iowa idolizing former Hawkeye Coach C. Vivian Stringer, is the fifth-youngest coach (36) ever to win a national title in NCAA history. She is the ninth to do so in her first trip to the Final Four. The 2006 squad set Terrapin records for most home wins (15), highest road winning percentage (.900), points (3,166), field goal attempts (2,363), three-point field goals (216), three-point attempts (540), free throws (690), free throw attempts (924), team free throw percentage (.747), rebounds (1,720) and blocked shots (195).
Last season, the Terrapins also led the nation in wins (34), three-point shooting (40 percent) and rebounding margin (11.9) while also boasting the No.2-ranked offense (83.3 points per game).
Frese’s most celebrated accomplishment prior to the title was her recruiting ability. The 2006 Terrapins had six former high-school All-Americans on their roster. After making one NCAA appearance in three years of head coaching prior to Maryland (two at Ball State and one at Minnesota) and a 10-18 record her first year in College Park, she signed the nation’s No.2-ranked recruiting class. That class included Final Four Most Valuable Player Laura Harper. Her previous recruiting class was ranked No. 10 and Frese has had the No. 4 and No. 7 classes since the highly-acclaimed 2002-’03 group.
Frese played basketball at the University of Arizona. She was an assistant basketball coach at Kent State for two seasons and an assistant coach at Iowa State for four seasons before taking her first head coaching job at Ball State University. Frese coached the Cardinals to a school-best 19-9 (.679) record during the 2000-01 season, and was named Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year. Frese then took the head coaching job at the University of Minnesota. There, she led the Gophers to one of largest single season turnarounds in NCAA history. She took the Gophers to the postseason 2001-02 NCAA Tournament for what was only the second time in school history and was named AP National Coach of the Year.
The C. Vivian Stringer Coaching Award is presented to a woman who has demonstrated outstanding achievement as a coach. This person exhibits a high standard of propriety, imagination and innovation as a character-builder in the tradition of great teacher-coaches.
The C. Vivian Stringer Coaching award has been presented annually since 2002 to outstanding coaches in women’s sports as part of the Academy’s Awards of Sport Medallion Series, which pays “Tribute to the Artist and the Athlete.” Past winners include five-time Division II women’s basketball national championship coach Amy Ruley, four-time national champion Alabama co-head gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson, five-time national champion UCLA women’s track and field coach Jeanette Bolden and 10-time national champion UCLA softball coach Sue Enquist. For more information about this award, please visit www.asama.org.
