Shay Doron in Town

We were really happy to get a visit from Shay Doron on Sunday. Shay and Maryland teammate Laura Harper had dinner with us and spent a few hours catching up. So many great memories and laughs were shared, as well as getting caught up on the latest from two Terps who have their names and numbers hanging in the Comcast Center. Shay has already signed a deal to play in Russia next season. She's 29 years old, which is hard to believe.

Laura is a new assistant women's basketball coach at American University. It's her first coaching job and she's fresh off of her first week of July recruiting. It was very interesting to hear her talk about the experience. For any coach, there is so much to learn and so many different things to navigate. What's great about Harp is that she's always so passionate and that will make her successful at anything she does. Within the last year, she made the decision to stop playing basketball, because she's already had something like seven surgeries and didn't want to have any more. Her last basketball ended this past season in Moscow, where her teammates included Kristi Toliver and Crystal Langhorne. Their Dynamo Moscow team won a European Championship.

Speaking of championships, one thing we reflected on his how as you get older, you appreciate even more that a special group of people was able to lead Maryland to it's first national championship in 2006. That's because as you get older you realize how difficult it is to do. Laura shared that to this day, her dad is still amazed that she and her teammates accomplished something so rare. Shay shared that her dad was, at first, really hoping she would choose Harvard during the recruiting process. Shay went on to say that at first, Maryland wasn't on her radar, but after playing in an event at Boo Williams, her mom suggested they go by Maryland. Shay agreed and once she met Brenda and everyone around the program, her interest grew quickly. The more she learned about the school, the more she saw the fit.

The most amazing part to me is that Maryland was not a winner at the time. Shay had come from a winning background, including Christ the King High School, a national power. So Shay had to have total self-confidence that she could come to Maryland and change the culture. She relayed to me that she felt at the time that if Brenda Frese could get Shay Doron to Maryland, she was going to get other great players to Maryland as well. Shay had the courage and risk-taking willingness that comes with being a teenager at the time and she was 100% correct in her hypothesis.

Shay's impact was felt immediately her freshman year. Maryland had gone 10-18 in Brenda's first season in charge. With Shay as a freshman, the record improved to 18-13 and extended into the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. That tournament included one of the memorable wins in Brenda's time at Maryland, a first round upset of Miami, 86-85, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Miami was a #5 seed and had beaten Maryland by 31 points the last time they played. Of course, Maryland went on to win many more huge games while Shay grew to "rock star status" in the community. Shay also was the consummate teammate in the sense that as the elite talent in the program grew, she was willing to sacrifice some of her own game to help the team win.

We hold my wife's former players in such a special place. They are truly family members and it was way cool to have our five year old boys, Markus and Tyler, get to be around them for a little while. As they grow older, they will continue to learn and hear from us what a special role these players played in our family's life.

July Independence

It's July and for spouses of coaches like me, that means we say "see ya later" to our significant other. Yep, for about a week, my wife, Brenda Frese, is on the road looking for future Terps. That means back here at headquarters, I'm doing around the clock "Daddy Day Care". Because I'm home with a sick son, I got a little time to work on this blog a bit this afternoon. Markus (five years old) got hit with a stomach virus about 1 a.m. last night. That means he's spending a lot of time with his head on a pillow on the couch and I'm keeping him company. And, oh yeah, the couch he's christening is brand new. After eight years in our house and five years of two boys growing up on them, our previous couch and love seat got sent to the graveyard.

Our other son, Tyler, is with his grandparents. Because he's being treated for leukemia, his immune system is much weaker than the average person. If he gets sick, it becomes more difficult than just resting on the couch. It could mean a visit to Johns Hopkins Hospital and possibly getting admitted as an inpatient. So, we do our best to avoid that.

While she's gone, Brenda checks in throughout the day. Usually she's either in a gym, traveling to a gym or in her hotel room. Her opportunities are limited, but we try to talk on the phone, do "Face Time", send texts, photos and videos. The boys are always excited to hear from her. They get really silly, which is a lot of fun. 

It's not uncommon for Brenda to be in a gym from before 8 a.m. until after 10 p.m. On days like that, she watches 10+ consecutive games. Her staff members do likewise and they are in contact during the day, sharing observations. Imagine several consecutive days of doing that and add in short nights and travel. That's how you get it done, when you're trying to build and sustain a program. I truly admire my wife's drive, determination and ability to outwork her husband. 

When my wife was pregnant and only the two of us really knew about it, I traveled with her some during this recruiting period. We wanted to do our best to ensure a healthy pregnancy, so my job was to get her food and drink, carry her bags and do my best to make sure she was comfortable. Actually, that doesn't sound all that different from my life when Brenda isn't pregnant.

If you want an amusing sidebar, during that time of accompanying my wife during her pregnancy, some coaches from other schools accused me of illegally contacting recruits in the gym. They did it anonymously and submitted it to the NCAA. I responded that the charges were completely false. I also offered that if any of my accusers were willing to reveal themselves, I would travel at my own expense to see them and we could clear up this misunderstanding. I never heard back from any of them. Nothing ever came of it, but this has to be a window into what the NCAA gets flooded with on a regular basis. I do have to admit, I did find it funny and flattering that strangers would think I have these amazing powers of persuasion. Trust me when I tell you that for most of my life, women haven't wanted to hear anything I have to say. LOL

These days, I'll still take occasional recruiting trips, a.k.a. "dates" with my wife. I like to call it "Driving Miss Brenda". I'm her chauffeur while she gets work done. It actually is a big help for her to not lose those hours of possible productivity in the car. We also get a chance to talk, which any couple can tell you is a challenge when you're raising kids. Sometimes, we even get to try some fine dining, like Panera. Yes, we are two hopeless romantics.

As far as this July recruiting period goes, the staff, led by recruiting coordinator Tina Langley, meets and organizes who goes where. Many of the locations are familiar and repeat visits from previous years- i.e. Orlando, Atlanta, Chicago. Brenda is very involved in recruiting. Not every head coach is that way, but my wife really wants to know the players she's ultimately attaching her fate to. She also has a good eye for identifying and evaluating players.

The four members of the staff- Brenda, Tina, Marlin Chinn and David Adkins- all hit the road during July recruiting. Three of them can be "out" at any given time and the fourth is usually "on deck" waiting his or her turn to go back "on". In the gym, there is a lot of socializing going on among coaches from various schools. It makes sense that friends try to catch up in these settings.

One of my all-time favorite July stories took place back in 2008. In a certain stretch, Brenda had to decide what event she was going to travel to and where her time was best spent. The conventional decision would've been to get on a plane and fly to South America, where a young USA Basketball team was competing in an international event. Theoretically, USA Basketball is comprised of the best players in that age group. Brenda decided instead to go to a little event called "The Battle of Baltimore" which had no reputation as a "big time" event, stacked with high major talent. When she walked into the arena where it was being held, the few college coaches on hand were mostly D-2, D-3 and low D-1. And the talent on hand lived up to its advance under-billing. However, also on hand that day was an AAU team named the "Mid Penn Motion", coached by Tina Thomas and featuring a young Alyssa Thomas. All I can say is that it was love at first sight and going to that event ranks as one of the best decisions my wife ever made. The rest is history.