Maryland Women’s Basketball: No. 10 recruit Ashley Owusu commits to Terrapins

Coach Brenda Frese continues to hit the recruiting trail hard to keep the Maryland Terrapins among the top women’s programs.

The Maryland Terrapins women’s basketball program is one of the best in the nation, and coach Brenda Frese is a major reason why. Frese has guided the Terps to a 405-111 record in 15 years at College Park. The 47-year-old  has led Maryland to its lone NCAA National Championship (2005-06) and three of the school’s five Final Four appearances.

Frese is a fantastic X’s and O’s coach, but recruiting is her bread and butter. Frese has secured a top-15 recruiting class 13 times, including six top-5 classes. The 2016 class was ranked No. 1 in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz, marking a Frese recruiting had garnered such a lofty distinction.

However, just four of the six original members of the 2016 recruiting class are still with the Terps. Destiny Slocum and Jenna Straiti, the top rated recruits in the class, have transferred. Slocum is now an Oregon State Beaver while Staitti returned home to Georgia to join the Bulldogs.

Maryland lost five players from last year’s squad (32-3), including the two transfers, that reached the Sweet 16. As a result, the Terps will only have 10 players on the roster with top-100 recruit Channise Lewis being the only freshman.

Frese has made up for her one player recruiting class in 2017 by already securing three commitments from the Class of 2018. 6’5 forward Shakira Austin, the 10th ranked prospect in the class, leads the trio.  The Terps also have received commitments from 20th-ranked Taylor Mikesell and No. 58 Olivia Owens. Additionally, Frese recently secured her first verbal commitment from the class of 2019.

Ashley Owusu, ESPN’s 10th ranked prospect in the class, announced her allegiance to the Terps on August 10. Owusu chose Maryland over Connecticut, Penn State, South Carolina, and West Virginia.

“I made a visit there and everything just seemed right,” Owusu said. “Maryland has been recruiting me for a long time and the visit just proved to me that Maryland is where I want to be.”

The 5’9″ Woodbridge, Virginia, native is a true point guard as she is an excellent floor general; though, she excels in scoring as well as distributing the ball. She is deceptively athletic and likes to push the tempo whenever the opportunity presents itself. Owusu also has the ability to finish at the rim which complements her mid-range game well.

Maryland is slated to lose three players after the 2017-18 campaign. If Frese does not add any other players to the Terps 2018 recruiting class, they will have 10 players next season as well. Maryland is scheduled to lose just two players following the 2019 season.

Keil Moore of Prospects Nation mentioned a few other 2019 recruits that the Terps could potentially nab. Moore started the list with No. 1 prospect Sam Brunnelle as an obvious target as she lives in Ruckersville, Virginia. Moore added that Maryland has been linked to 6’2″ post Malu Tshitenge and post Akunna Konkwo.

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Maryland has dominated the Big Ten since joining the conference three seasons ago. The Terrapins have won three straight Big Ten regular and conference titles. The Terps are 97-10 over the last three years, including 49-3 in conference play.