Souhan: Brenda Frese, returning to face Gophers, is a rare case

Lou Holtz used the University of Minnesota as a stepping stone to his dream job. When he left to become the football coach at Notre Dame, he exacerbated the inferiority complex embedded in most Minnesota sports fans.

This is the place where, during a World Series at the Metrodome, a fan held up a sign reading: “We Like It Here.”

Holtz’s departure created a paranoia stubborn as the common cold. If a local coach succeeds, a Minnesota sports fan close to you will ask, “Are they going to leave us?”

Here’s a reality check: Since Holtz left 40 years ago, prominent Minnesota sports teams have lost only one coach they wanted to keep, and who has excelled after leaving.

The Gophers women’s basketball team will see her on Sunday at Williams Arena.

Brenda Frese went by Brenda Oldfield when she became the coach of the Gophers women’s basketball program in 2001. She inherited a team that went 8-20, including 1-15 in the Big Ten, despite the presence of a freshman named Lindsay Whalen.

In her one season at Minnesota, Frese went 22-8 and 11-5 in the conference. The Gophers became the hottest team in town and won an NCAA tournament game.

Since leaving Minnesota, Frese’s record is 617-169 — a .784 winning percentage. Since she left, the Gophers are 440-304 — a .591 winning percentage.

The Gophers haven’t come close to a Final Four since Whalen ran out of eligibility. Frese coached the Terrapins to the NCAA title in 2006 and made the Final Four 2014 and ’15. This year, her team is ranked No. 7 in the country.

In addition to being a powerhouse coach, Frese has a knack for promotion.

Frese is the one who got away.

Lea B. Olsen played for the Gophers. Now she’s a keynote speaker, motivational speaker, emcee and television basketball analyst for the Lynx and Timberwolves.

“She just had it, and she continues to have it at Maryland. She’s just a smart, incredible coach, but she has something that allows you to connect to her, to want to play for her — all those things that are hard to describe. So I didn’t think at that time that she would probably stay at the University of Minnesota for a long time, but I certainly thought it would be longer than a year.

“That was pretty heartbreaking, because at that moment in time, if they could have held onto her, things would look, I think, a lot different for this program right now.”

Olsen noted that Frese was able to recruit Minnehaha Academy guard Addi Mack, a freshman on this year’s team. Mack was named the national freshman of the week in mid-November.

“It’s that ability to connect with all types of different kids that allows Brenda to get those kinds of players,” Olsen said. “To get a player like Addi is a really huge deal and in my eyes speaks to her coaching.”

Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit is 51-29 at Minnesota and 6-2 this season. Frequent injuries to her best player, Mara Braun, have limited her program’s potential. Braun is healthy this season but isn’t yet scoring at her expected rate.