Following a victory over N.C. State earlier this month, Maryland women?s basketball coach Brenda Frese made sure to acknowledge Kay Yow, the Wolfpack?s longtime coach.
Yow, the sister of Maryland athletics director Debbie Yow, was not on the sidelines that night after taking a leave of absence to receive treatment for breast cancer. Yow is expected to return to the sidelines this week, a place where she has resided for the last 32 seasons.
Frese understands that much of the success she and other young coaches have today is due in part to the path paved by Yow and others like her. Many of these veteran coaches have helped women?s basketball gain additional media exposure, financial backing and support from their respective universities.
Frese is among a growing list of coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference looking to take women?s basketball to an even higher level since it became an NCAA sport 26 years ago. Women?s basketball is in the early stages of a transitional period, where many of those pioneering coaches have retired, including former Maryland coach Chris Weller, who stepped down after 27 seasons in 2002. Currently, six ACC schools have coaches with 10 or fewer years of experience, including Frese (8 years), Miami?s Katie Meier (6), Florida State?s Sue Semrau (10) and Virginia Tech?s Beth Dunkenberger (8).
“What we are seeing right now is that first real influx of young assistant coaches becoming head coaches,” Frese said. “Many of these coaches coming in have a lot of energy, know how to use technology to their advantage and are aggressive on the recruiting trail.”
No. 3 Maryland (20-1) will get a firsthand look Sunday at one of those pioneering coaches when it hosts No. 2 North Carolina (22-0). Sylvia Hatchell has coached the Tar Heels for the last 21 seasons and has a career coaching record of 738-268 over 32 seasons.
This game comes a little more than a week after Maryland hosted fellow ACC rival Virginia, which Debbie Ryan has coached for the last 30 years. She is 644-269 in that span.
Ryan said Frese and younger coaches like her have a lot of advantages that she didn?t have. The game will only get stronger with more coaches like Frese coming up through the ranks, according to Ryan.
“A lot of these younger coaches had great college playing experiences,” Ryan said. “Schools today are supporting women?s basketball, and women?s athletics in general, far better than they did when I first started coaching.”
ACC CAREER COACHING RECORDS
(Through Saturday)
» Cathy Inglese (Boston College) ? 369-233
» Cristy McKinney (Clemson) ? 260-198
» Gail Goestenkors (Duke) ? 383-97
» Sue Semrau (Florida State) ? 151-131
» Joseph MaChelle (Georgia Tech) ? 52-51
» Brenda Frese (Maryland) ? 160-76
» Katie Meier (Miami) ? 103-68
» Sylvia Hatchell (North Carolina) ? 738-268
» Kay Yow (N.C. State) ? 696-321
» Debbie Ryan (Virginia) ? 644-269
» Beth Dunkenberger (Virginia Tech) ? 115-80
» Mike Petersen (Wake Forest) ? 225-168
