Too soon, Frese said.
"I was disappointed in the timing of it,'' she said. "I've reached out to Lindsay. I've talked to her by text. Her and her staff, they've got a young core of kids in there right now, that freshman class. I thought she'd have a little more time to develop it.''
That was a common theme among coaches at the Big Ten tournament this week — too soon. That a first-time coach learning on the job through the rise of NIL, the arrival of the NCAA's transfer portal and the chilling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic deserved more time, the right to steer a strong freshman class into its sophomore year.
[...]
After leading Dayton to a 127-50 record and NCAA tournament berths in five of her six seasons there, Shauna Green moved to Illinois this season. She inherited a team that was 7-77 in Big Ten play since 2017. Augmenting her roster with the NCAA transfer portal, she led the Illini to a 22-9 record and will likely receive an NCAA bid next week. She knows what can be done in the conference.
"Look, I took a job that no one thought was attractive,'' Green said. "I believe, if you believe in yourself and if you have great administration and you have people that are going to put the resources into it, you can win anywhere if you bet on yourself. I think [the Minnesota position is] a great job. I thought Lindsay did a great job through her tenure.'
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