It’s been impossible to be on any sports social media algorithm this week without seeing Brenda Frese’s impassioned speech to guard Oluchi Okananwa during the third quarter of Maryland women’s basketball’s NCAA Tournament loss to North Carolina.
Frese took an out-of-sorts Okananwa out of the game to implore her to “lock in” and affirm
her belief in the guard as the leader of Maryland’s team. When Okananwa checked back into the game a minute later, she instantly drove hard to the rim and scored. Then, she forced a Tar Heels timeout with an aggressive trap, which she celebrated emphatically with her coach.
The intensity of Frese’s speech in combination with Okananwa’s response made it go viral, with every major sports account from Bleacher Report to Barstool Sports sharing it, mostly with praise of Frese’s coaching.
Many heaped praise onto Frese and Okananwa for embracing an old-school style of coaching, invoking old legends like Bobby Knight known for throwing chairs onto the court out of frustration. Others preemptively called out anyone who would have a problem with it and predicted it would cause controversy which never seemed to come.
In reality, though, the moment had nothing to do with Frese being a “soft” or “hard” coach or an “old-school” or “new-school” coach. It’s about what has made her one of the best head coaches in women’s basketball since she took over Maryland’s program in 2002.
Frese is a player’s coach in the truest sense of the term — she consistently develops personal relationships with her players and understands the right way to deliver messages of motivation to them.
“It’s always been a pulse I’ve been able to have with individuals and players,” Frese said after the game. “You can’t have [those conversations] without a relationship.”
Okananwa has been Maryland’s alpha all season. She prides herself on being an “Energizer bunny,” relentlessly chasing the other team’s best guard around the perimeter and then attacking them on the other end. So when Maryland needed a comeback effort, Frese knew Okananwa needed to be jolted awake with an intense challenge.
Okananwa’s response was no surprise. As Frese yelled at her she replied, “I do want the moment, coach.” She expanded on the love she has for Frese and her coaching style after the game.
“I’ll keep on telling her this until forever, I love to be coached hard, and that’s what she does with me every single day,” Okananwa said.
This isn’t Frese’s default motivation style for every player on the team, though.
Okananwa wasn’t the only one struggling — two of Maryland’s senior captains, Saylor Poffenbarger and Yarden Garzon, also had a difficult game. Neither could find any shooting rhythm, and they ended the game a combined 0/16 from three.
Frese didn’t take either of them out of the game for an intense speech because as two quiet but fierce competitors, neither has shown that they respond to that style of coaching. They were doing everything they could to help their team, but shots just weren’t falling — no speech could change that. After the game, Frese had nothing but positive things to say about them.
“They should be able to live with the [fact that] they tried to do everything they can,” Frese said. “It was just awesome to be able to bring [Poffenbarger] back home… and [Garzon], the winner and competitor she is, our staff really enjoyed having her all season.”
Frese consistently strikes a balance of accountability and intensity without throwing her players under the bus for mistakes. This is what makes her exceedingly popular among players who have come through her program.
“I’m so blessed that I’ve been welcomed to the program the way that I have,” Okananwa said. “All I want is to keep on playing for [Frese], for this program, for this name that we wear on our chest as hard as I can.”
As of right now, the Terps have no open roster spots for next season, but with the transfer portal, that’s likely to change at some point. If it does, the virality of the moment will be sure to serve as a recruiting pitch for any player in the portal that wants to join the culture of accountability that Frese has cultivated for over 20 years.
