San Diego State Head women’s basketball coach Stacie Terry-Hutson has added Marsha Frese to her staff as an assistant coach. Frese comes to the Mesa with 19 years of Division I coaching experience and was most recently the head coach for the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
“Marsha is a great addition to our staff and program,” Terry-Hutson said, who worked alongside Frese for three years at Illinois. “She has a wealth of experience, is a fantastic recruiter and works tirelessly. Above all else, she is a staunch advocate for student-athletes and fits perfectly with the SDSU culture.
Known for her recruiting acumen, Frese (pronounced Freeze) has been on the sidelines as an assistant (or associate head coach) and recruiting coordinator for Ball State (1999-2001, 2007-08), Minnesota (2001-02), Maryland (2002-03), Illinois (2003-07) and Northern Illinois (2010-12), in addition to her five year stint as head coach for UMKC (2012-17). Throughout her career, she has recruited and developed 21 student-athletes who went on the play professionally.
“I couldn’t be more excited to join Coach Terry-Hutson and her staff on the Mesa,” Frese explained. “I was fortunate to work with Stacie while at the University of Illinois and it was an incredible working environment. I have always admired her strong commitment to building relationships with student-athletes and their families, along with her incredible passion for the game. While our career took us in separate directions, I have enjoyed following her success from afar and have tremendous respect for her hard work and dedication. It’s clear that the San Diego State women’s basketball program has a strong foundation and I can’t wait to help them compete for Mountain West championships.”
While at UMKC, she helped lead the transition from the Summit League to the WAC and saw her student-athletes thrive in the classroom. Under her guidance, her teams had the highest team GPA in DI basketball I back-to-back years (2014-15) and were ranked in the WBCA’s top 25 academically in four of her five years. Frese signed or coached four of the top ten all-time scorers and rebounders in UMKC’s program history.
In 2014, UMKC was one of just five mid-majors to have a nationally ranked recruiting class and that class ended up having the highest percentage of points scored by freshmen in the nation. In 2015, she helped the ‘Roos upset Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse, giving UMKC their first road win over a power five conference school in 23 years. In 2016, UMKC knocked off two teams (Wichita State and Abilene Christian) who would advance to the NCAA Tournament.
Frese’s coaching career began at Ball State in 1999 where she coached under her sister Brenda and guided the Cardinals post back-to-back winning seasons for just the second time in school history.
After the 2001 season, Frese and her sister moved on to Minnesota where they helped the Gophers improve from 8-20 (1-15 in the Big Ten) to 22-8 (11-5). The 14-game improvement was one of the biggest turnarounds in the nation and the 10-win increase in conference play was the biggest in Big Ten history. While at Minnesota, Frese coached Big Ten Player of the Year Lindsey Whalen and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Janel McCarville, both of which would be top five picks in the WNBA Draft. In Frese’s one season at Minnesota, the Gophers averaged 80 points per game, seventh-most in the nation.
Frese and her sister Brenda went to Maryland the following season where they signed a top ten recruiting class that included future WNBA player Shay Doron. Frese’s recruiting efforts laid the foundation for Maryland’s 2006 national championship run.
Frese was hired by Illinois as their associate head coach and recruiting coordinator following the 2002 season. During Frese’s stint in Champaign, which overlapped with Terry-Hutson’s three years there, the Illini made the postseason three times and had four consecutive recruiting classes ranked in the top 25 nationally. She recruited and coached three of Illinois’ four all-time WNBA Draft picks, including Jenna Smith, who went on to become the Illini’s all-time leader in scoring, rebounding and blocks.
Frese returned to Ball State for the 2007-08 season where she helped the Cardinals win the MAC West Division championship and played an integral part in the recruitment of Ball State’s 2009 MAC championship team.
Frese’s next stop was Northern Illinois (2010-12) where she served as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator. In her first season, the Huskies improved their win total in conference play by 75 percent. Frese, who coached the guards, saw NIU shoot 37.6 percent from three, the top mark in the MAC and 10th-best in the nation. After the 2011-12 season, Frese was hired by UMKC to be their head coach.
Frese has stayed involved with the game the past few years, serving as a freelance consultant. She provided recruiting analysis and scouting evaluations for multiple DI programs. She was also an evaluator for Blue Star Basketball, attending multiple national recruiting tournaments throughout the country. This past season, she was an assistant for the Blue Valley West High School boys’ basketball team (Overland Park, Kan.), who improved their overall record by six wins.
Frese was named Iowa’s high school player of the year in 1990 and helped Cedar Rapids Washington HS to a state championship. She went on to have a standout career at Rice where she is still third all-time in career field goal percentage (.402) and had the second-best single-season three-point percentage (.472).
After graduating from Rice with a degree in communications, she was a sports reporter for KALB-TV in Alexandria, La. (1996-99), becoming the first female sportscaster in the station’s 58-year history.
Frese and her husband Jason have two children: Kylan and Camden.
The Frese File
Hometown: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Education: Rice University (B.A. Communication, 1995)
Frese’s Previous College Coaching Experience:
1999-2001, Assistant Coach, Ball State
2001-02, Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator, Minnesota
2002-02, Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator, Maryland
2003-07, Associate Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator, Illinois
2007-08, Assistant Coach/Co-Recruiting Coordinator, Ball State
2010-12, Associate Head Coach/ Recruiting Coordinator, Northern Illinois
2012-17, Head Coach, Missouri-Kansas City
