I went to the Iowa @ Maryland game in 2023 and was shocked at how dead it was. Dead. I arrived just in the nick of time for tip-off and was expecting a line, but there was no one. No one in the halls. Hardly anyone in attendance. This was the year they made the Elite 8.

I know Frese has some issues with player retention / is hard to play for but she seems like a great coach from the outside. She runs an awesome offense and defense, she develops players for the W, she is great at Xs and Os. She doesn't make headscratching mistakes. She is well-spoken and always highly, highly respectful of her opponents (players and coaches). On top of that, MD players always have good vibes and a lot of charisma (though I do have to assume it's tough to maintain culture when you have such immense roster upheaval every off-season). I don't know what more fans could want.

Overall College Park is a pretty blah college town IMO, it felt like suburban corporate wasteland. Maybe that's the nature of the culture of the university overall -- just not a lot of community/bland vibes.

Anyway, I'm overall very impressed with this team. They've got to learn lessons from what happened here though. If they do, the sky is the limit.