Maryland women?s basketball coach Brenda Frese always has delegated responsibilities to her assistants. But now the 37-year-old in her 32nd week of being pregnant with twins has dealt the biggest responsibility of all: her role as coach.
Frese, who is unable to roam the sidelines with her fiery personality during games and is prohibited by doctors from traveling on road trips, has left the team in the hands of Daron Park.
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Park, who has gained more duties the past few months, has his biggest test on Saturday afternoon at 1, when the No. 3 Terrapins (20-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) play at No. 4 North Carolina (17-2, 4-0) in front of a regional television audience on FSN.
But Park, in his first season at Maryland, is no stranger in coaching in big games. He was an assistant at Utah when the Utes lost a close game to Maryland in the Elite Eight during the Terrapins? run to the national championship in 2006.
“Daron has been the perfect fit here,” said Frese of Park, who replaced now-Louisville head coach Jeff Walz. “He?s gained the players? respect in a short amount of time and finds ways to make them better.”
Park, 36, said he is willing to do whatever he can to assist Frese, who is due in March. Park already has handled many practices, including two weeks earlier this season when Frese was out with a bulging disc in her back. He also was the acting head coach during Maryland?s two-game West Coast trip and for games at Wake Forest, Boston College and Virginia ? all Terrapin wins.
“He had to learn about us as much as we had to learn about him,” Maryland junior forward Marissa Coleman said. “He got thrown into a lot with Coach Frese being pregnant and him basically being our coach at times. But I think everyone has adjusted well to the situation.”
The coaching styles of Park and Frese mirror each other, as both pace the sideline and are very vocal during games. Frese, however, often sits in an office chair for comfort during home games, trusting Park to run the team.
“Brenda is very unique for coaches at her level because she has such a small ego and trusts her assistants so much to accentuate her strengths while adding their own,” Park said. “That trust makes me work two to three times harder because she is placing so much responsibility in my hands.”
Park, who is married with two kids, knows the exposure could make him a candidate for head coaching openings. But now, he?s focused on doing one thing: defeating the Tar Heels, who are coming off an 81-72 loss at top-ranked Connecticut on Monday.
“This all unfolded so quickly since I arrived in May,” Park said. “I learned early on as an assistant coach that my job is to do anything I can to make the head coach?s job easier. That?s what I plan to do.”
