Johnson Adds Marsha Frese to Staff

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -

Boston College has hired Marsha Frese as an assistant coach for the women's basketball team, announced today by head coach Erik Johnson.

"With Marsha Frese joining our BC family, I am now blessed to work with one of the most experienced, professional, and talented staffs of assistant coaches in the nation. Marsha's character and genuine care for each student athlete as a whole person makes her a perfect fit at BC. Her passion for coaching, tireless work ethic, and expertise in every aspect of high-level collegiate women's basketball will make her an invaluable resource for me and for everyone associated with our program," said head coach Erik Johnson on the hiring of Frese this week.

Frese has been a collegiate coach at the Division 1 level for 15-plus years.

"I couldn't be more excited for the opportunity to work with Coach Johnson and his staff. Boston College is known for excellence, both academically and athletically and I am thrilled to help advance this mission. I know first-hand that culture is not built overnight and I am incredibly impressed at the foundation that has already been established with this program. There is just something special and extremely rare at Boston College and within the women's basketball program in particular. From the very beginning, Erik has made my family a priority. In this business of college athletics, Erik and the entire women's basketball staff have made it known that this program is truly about family. I am extremely humbled and excited for this opportunity and to be part of the BC community," said Frese on joining the Eagles.

Frese was the head coach at University of Missouri – Kansas City from 2012-17. She led the program through the transition into the Western Athletic Conference two years into her tenure. In 2017 the team advanced to the semifinals of the WAC tournament for the first time in program history. She was instrumental in the development of two All-WAC selections - Eilise O'Connor, the program's second leading scorer, and Kim Nezianya, the program's all-time leading rebounder.

Her 2014 recruiting class was ranked among the top 130 in the country, according to Blue Star Basketball. In that class, Aries Washington was named to the WAC All-Newcomer team, a first for the program in five seasons.

For two seasons – 2013-14 and 2014-15 - the team was the NCAA Division 1 GPA champion. More impressive is the 2014-15 team earned a top national award with a 3.72 GPA, the highest GPA by a Division 1 team.

Prior to her time at UMKC, Frese was the Associate Head Coach at Northern Illinois for two seasons. She was instrumental in helping the Huskies recruit MAC Freshman of the Year Clair Jakubicek, the first NIU player to win the award in 10 years.

Frese started her career at Ball State as an assistant coach alongside her sister Brenda, the current Maryland head coach. She remained at Ball State from 1999-01 and joined her sister in Minnesota as an assistant in 2001-02.

She was head of recruiting at Maryland from 2002-03. She signed McDonald's All-American Shay Doron, a three-time All-ACC honoree, and member of the 2006 National Championship team. She also landed Kalika France, who was rated the sixth best guard in the class of 2003.

In 2003 she became an assistant coach and later promoted to associate head coach at Illinois alongside Hall of Fame coach Theresa Grentz. Frese was at Illinois for four seasons where she helped Illinois bring in four consecutive national top-25 recruiting classes according to Blue Star Basketball.

Frese returned to Ball State before becoming the associate head coach at Northern Illinois.

A native of Iowa, Frese played basketball at Rice University where she finished her career ranked sixth all-time in three-pointers made. Frese was also a high school hero as she was named Miss Iowa Basketball and led Cedar Rapids Washington High School to the 1988 Iowa State Title.

Related Videos