Maryland women's basketball coach Brenda Frese and star guard Oluchi Okananwa weren't able to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, but they did capture America's hearts last weekend.
During No. 5 Maryland's loss to No. 4 North Carolina, ESPN's camera crew caught Frese having a fiery interaction with Okananwa. She was seen delivering this motivational message to her leading scorer: "I believe in you, but you’ve got to want this moment."
Frese spoke to TMZ Sports this Wednesday about her viral interaction with Okananwa. She joked about this moment generating more traction than Maryland's national title run in 2006.
"We won a national championship in 2006 and we didn’t get this many views back then," Frese said. "Unfortunately we lost that game with North Carolina, but we probably took a win with the amount of views from this game. I love the fact that players like Oluchi can be coached hard."
Frese continued, "When you can coach in those intense moments with positivity and confidence, that's what's received from those messages."
© Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.
Okananwa shuts down any speculation.
There were some fans who thought Okananwa was uncomfortable during her mid-game conversation with Frese. However, that wasn't the case at all.
"I was genuinely so confused. I was like what did she do wrong? But yeah, no hard feelings."
That should end any potential rumors about a rift between Frese and Okananwa.
Okananwa finished this season averaging 17.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. She had 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting against North Carolina.
