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cyberhawk

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A chink in the facade of the Maryland women’s basketball program sheds unflattering light on HC Brenda Frese…


I started this thread to keep it separate from the Iowa WBB discussions and also kept the title general so as to allow for (and encourage) a broader discussion beyond just Maryland.
 
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A chink in the facade of the Maryland women’s basketball program sheds unflattering light on HC Brenda Frese…


(Started this thread to keep it separate from the Iowa WBB discussions and also kept the title general so as to encourage a broader discussion beyond just Maryland)
Seems like a rare circumstance where the question "why are so many players transferring from a program" is answered (unintentionally) by the coach herself rather than by player allegations or a media investigation. A stunning lack of awareness. I'm glad we can have success with coaches who focus on building a family atmosphere within the team rather than trashing a player who leaves.
 
A chink in the facade of the Maryland women’s basketball program sheds unflattering light on HC Brenda Frese…


(Started this thread to keep it separate from the Iowa WBB discussions and also kept the title general so as to allow for a broader discussion beyond just Maryland)
Wow. That's a violation of the kid's privacy. Freeze and U MD will be paying for that eff up.
 
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Seems like a rare circumstance where the question "why are so many players transferring from a program" is answered (unintentionally) by the coach herself rather than by player allegations or a media investigation. A stunning lack of awareness. I'm glad we can have success with coaches who focus on building a family atmosphere within the team rather than trashing a player who leaves.
Clearly BF is more concerned with her W/L record and image than she is with her student-athletes’ futures, personal well being and winning in life.
 
FERPA

They are likely to “pay for it” in more ways than one. I believe it will hurt their recruiting as well. I can already sense a decline in their B1G and national status.
Yep. I feel a lot better about our short and medium outlook after Maryland's off-season. They might well be a good team again this year, but having most of your starters transfer (to schools that aren't clearly better) and then these comments should have an impact on Maryland's future.

If I were the parent of a high-level recruit, I would advise them against going to Maryland. Same with a player in the portal. There are plenty of good programs with coaches that actually care about their players.
 
Who knows why the hell kids transfer. Toothpaste is out of the tube now.. not enough playing time; coach didn’t show me enough love; coaches yelled at me; another school offered up some $… Who the hell knows. Doesn’t necessarily mean it’s all on the coach… THIS (sadly) is the new world of college athletics….
Maryland has had a pattern in the last few years (even before the portal era) of many high profile players leaving. Most of these players were not only starters, they were the leaders. Very few players are leaving because of little playing time. Brown, Slocum, Mikesell, Austin just to name a few who have left and had success elsewhere.
Brenda made these comments in response to criticism of the number of transfers out of her program. Relatively few programs have had more transfers (especially starters) than has Maryland. Perhaps many players in general are to blame for the large number of transfers, but in this case (too many players leaving for no apparent reason) it seems clear to me that BF is at fault.
If this is “the new world of college athletics”, we shall see which coaches really care about their student-athletes as people and not just as players that suit the coaches’ purposes.
 
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Hilarious to see all the Maryland ex-patriots rallying together on twitter. Collins has retweeted Mikesell, Reese, and Owusu today. Angel Reese's mom -- also named Angel Reese -- has even been sounding off. 😂



 
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Brenda's behavior was inappropriate no question about it & sounds as if legal action by Collins family is possible. We've all discussed the transfer issues at Maryland before, but somehow Brenda keeps bringing in top level talent through recruiting or the portal. Will be interesting to see if her freshly signed players will have second thoughts or Brenda will smooth talk her way out of this.

She was just extended by the AD too, wonder if he will be forced to comment about this.
 
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Brenda's behavior was inappropriate no question about it & sounds as if legal action by Collins family is possible. We've all discussed the transfer issues at Maryland before, but somehow Brenda keeps bringing in top level talent through recruiting or the portal. Will be interesting to see if her freshly signed players will have second thoughts or Brenda will smooth talk her way out of this.

She was just extended by the AD too, wonder if he will be forced to comment about this.
I think this round of transfers and comments could be different. Before we've known about Maryland's transfer issues, but not really the reasons for them. Coach Freese's reputation doesn't seem to have been impacted much by the transfers.

With her comments today, though, and so many former players now saying that she was the reason they left, I think her reputation will take a hit. And this has the potential to spiral further. Journalists are presumably going to ask her about the player tweets. Given her poor comments the first time, she could absolutely say something bad again that makes this get worse.
 
Brenda's behavior was inappropriate no question about it & sounds as if legal action by Collins family is possible. We've all discussed the transfer issues at Maryland before, but somehow Brenda keeps bringing in top level talent through recruiting or the portal. Will be interesting to see if her freshly signed players will have second thoughts or Brenda will smooth talk her way out of this.

She was just extended by the AD too, wonder if he will be forced to comment about this.
I think this round of transfers and comments could be different. Before we've known about Maryland's transfer issues, but not really the reasons for them. Coach Freese's reputation doesn't seem to have been impacted much by the transfers.

With her comments today, though, and so many former players now saying that she was the reason they left, I think her reputation will take a hit. And this has the potential to spiral further. Journalists are presumably going to ask her about the player tweets. Given her poor comments the first time, she could absolutely say something bad again that makes this get worse.
It does look bad but now that there is the possibility of a lawsuit, university administration is almost certain to “put a muzzle on her” and impose a gag order. Still, I think the publicity will get worse.
 
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It does look bad but now that there is the possibility of a lawsuit, university administration is almost certain to “put a muzzle on her” and impose a gag order. Still, I think the publicity will get worse.
I agree that the university would likely say she shouldn't comment in the event that there's a lawsuit. I'm thinking that she will probably get questions from media over the next few days and a lawsuit is unlikely to be filed that quickly. It's possible that she will try to dig herself out of the hole she's in, which rarely goes well.

And even if she doesn't make any further comments, I think a lawsuit will also harm her reputation.
 
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Maryland has had a pattern in the last few years (even before the portal era) of many high profile players leaving. Most of these players were not only starters, they were the leaders. Very few players are leaving because of little playing time. Brown, Slocum, Mikesell, Austin just to name a few who have left and had success elsewhere.
Brenda made these comments in response to criticism of the number of transfers out of her program. Relatively few programs have had more transfers (especially starters) than has Maryland. Perhaps many players in general are to blame for the large number of transfers, but in this case (too many players leaving for no apparent reason) it seems clear to me that BF is at fault.
If this is “the new world of college athletics”, we shall see which coaches really care about their student-athletes as people and not just as players that suit the coaches’ purposes.
Thanks for the follow up and additional context.
 
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I've heard rumors that Coquese was stonewalled in her later years at PSU by alumni and folks in the athletic department who were loyal to Paterno. Had they not withdrawn their support of her and the WBB program, it might not have seen the demise that it's currently still recovering from.
 
Full listing of each school's slate of conference matchups:


I'm splitting hairs here, but I like Indiana's chances the best. The only play Maryland and Nebraska once and they get them both at home. Also, they will be favored against all of their away-only opponents.
INDIANA
Home: Maryland, Nebraska, Rutgers, Wisconsin
Away: Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State
Home/Away: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue

Michigan also got a decent draw I'd say, only having to play us and Maryland one time.
MICHIGAN
Home: Illinois, Iowa, Northwestern, Penn State
Away: Maryland, Minnesota, Purdue, Wisconsin
Home/Away: Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Rutgers
 
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Clearly BF is more concerned with her W/L record and image than she is with her student-athletes’ futures, personal well being and winning in life.
The comment by Frese was petty and good insight into her leadership style. Program is getting questioned as to why so many transfers, and surely it can have zero to do with the head coach. Frese is wanting it known that this player left b/c her grades were not good enough, not anything to do with her coaching or how she runs the program. Even if what Frese said is true, as a leader she cannot be going after her own players that way. You are the coach, you are getting paid tons of money to do things like get questioned by the media (even tough questions) and to take the blame/deflect from your players.
 
Not sure a coach saying a person didn't qualify to get into grad school is lawsuit worthy, or post worthy
Might have a case (not a lawyer) in discussing a student's grades publicly without their permission. Not saying it would go anywhere, but the argument would be the person's reputation and future earning potential is being harmed by the comments from the coach.
 
Full listing of each school's slate of conference matchups:


I'm splitting hairs here, but I like Indiana's chances the best. The only play Maryland and Nebraska once and they get them both at home. Also, they will be favored against all of their away-only opponents.
INDIANA
Home: Maryland, Nebraska, Rutgers, Wisconsin
Away: Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State
Home/Away: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue

Michigan also got a decent draw I'd say, only having to play us and Maryland one time.
MICHIGAN
Home: Illinois, Iowa, Northwestern, Penn State
Away: Maryland, Minnesota, Purdue, Wisconsin
Home/Away: Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Rutgers
Indiana's home/away slate is tough, but they got about as easy of an away-only slate as you could make. Sort of the reverse of ours where the home-only portion should be fairly easy.

I certainly think Indiana's schedule is easier than ours. The big test will be whether their transfers can match the production they're losing. I think I'm more skeptical it can than the general consensus, I think.
 
Indiana's home/away slate is tough, but they got about as easy of an away-only slate as you could make. Sort of the reverse of ours where the home-only portion should be fairly easy.

I certainly think Indiana's schedule is easier than ours. The big test will be whether their transfers can match the production they're losing. I think I'm more skeptical it can than the general consensus, I think.
The all around versatility of Gulbe and the experience/chemistry of the backcourt superseniors will be missed, on defense more than anything!
 
Full listing of each school's slate of conference matchups:


I'm splitting hairs here, but I like Indiana's chances the best. The only play Maryland and Nebraska once and they get them both at home. Also, they will be favored against all of their away-only opponents.
INDIANA
Home: Maryland, Nebraska, Rutgers, Wisconsin
Away: Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State
Home/Away: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue

Michigan also got a decent draw I'd say, only having to play us and Maryland one time.
MICHIGAN
Home: Illinois, Iowa, Northwestern, Penn State
Away: Maryland, Minnesota, Purdue, Wisconsin
Home/Away: Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Rutgers
Among teams favored for a top 5 finish, agree that IU is the schedule winner. IU plays only 6 games against the other 4 teams in ESPN’s early rankings (Iowa, OSU, MD. and Neb.), with 4 games at home. Iowa plays 7 games against the early ranked group, with 4 on the road.

Michigan seems like the schedule loser. They play 8 games against the early ranked group, 4 at home.

Among second division teams, Minnesota is the clear schedule winner. Minnesota gets 9 games against Illinois, PSU, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Rutgers, 5 at home, and plays only 6 games against the pre-season top 5.
 
The all around versatility of Gulbe and the experience/chemistry of the backcourt superseniors will be missed, on defense more than anything!
Yep. I think they got better at shooting and maybe on offense, but with a big step back in defense, ball-handling, and overall experience. Plus they don't have a natural PG likely to see big minutes unless I missed a transfer. They're certainly better than they were before the portal, but I'd take last year's team to beat this year's team, and we beat last year's team 3 times.
 
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Does that buy Lindsay Whalen another year?
No idea. I think Minnesota is in a really tough place right now for several reasons: 1) Whalen is a program legend, and firing a program legend is very difficult, 2) how desirable will the job be if she's fired? Many might look at it and say if Whalen can't do well there, who can? 3) But for the strong recruiting class, Whalen has shown little to no improvement as a coach in 4 seasons, 4) expecting a bunch of freshman to come save the day isn't particularly realistic, and 5) they know if they fire her, most or all of the big recruiting class will likely leave.

If the results don't improve, I think she has 1 or 2 years left. I think it'll be 1 if some or all of the freshman transfer after this year. If they stick around, she probably gets another season after this one to show improvement.
 
The Minnesota job should be attractive to an experienced coach or associate head coach, Jan Jensen interviewed for it after Pam Borton was fired. The area regularly produces D1 prospects so the talent pool to recruit from is there. Lindsay's biggest issue has been transitioning from player to coach & managing a program from top to bottom. I agree she has this year & the following year to show the program is headed in the right direction. If a coaching change is made it would likely be done behind the scenes with her agreeing to step aside.
 
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This isn't B1G-related but I'm posting it here in an effort to keep a greater variety of WBB threads up and running. Ayoka Lee, the dominant 6'6'' center for Kansas State, will miss the entire season due to a knee surgery. KSU was going to be one of our marquee non-conference matchups on the road. It remains to be seen how competitive KSU will be without her, but now it's looking like a game that we can't afford to lose as opposed to a toss-up would that would simply be nice to win.

 
This isn't B1G-related but I'm posting it here in an effort to keep a greater variety of WBB threads up and running. Ayoka Lee, the dominant 6'6'' center for Kansas State, will miss the entire season due to a knee surgery. KSU was going to be one of our marquee non-conference matchups on the road. It remains to be seen how competitive KSU will be without her, but now it's looking like a game that we can't afford to lose as opposed to a toss-up would that would simply be nice to win.

Hopefully we get to see her next year, in the return game of a home & home?
 
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