UW women's basketball: Freitag to retire from coaching
University of Wisconsin women's basketball coach Lisa Stone will head into a pivotal season without her top aide, good friend and confidante.
Donna Freitag, who has served as an assistant to Stone for the last eight years, has decided to retire from coaching when her contract ends in May, Stone announced in a statement Monday.
Freitag, who grew up in the same neighborhood as Stone in the Madison suburb of Oregon and played with her in high school and at the University of Iowa, is looking to pursue other interests, according to the statement.
"I first want to thank Lisa for the opportunity I've had at Wisconsin," Freitag said. "Wisconsin is really the one place I always wanted to coach. My experience here has been terrific, but I've coached for 22 years and feel that at this point in my life I'm interested in pursuing a different professional path. I'm excited about the potential opportunities that lie ahead."
The announcement is surprising in that two weeks ago, Stone told the Wisconsin State Journal that she did not anticipate any changes to her staff.
Freitag has been Stone's assistant since 2000, starting at Drake and then at Wisconsin for the past five years.
This was her second stint with the Badgers. She served under Mary Murphy from 1986-94, then served as an assistant at Bradley for two years before being promoted to head coach. In four years with the Braves, Freitag compiled a 37-69 record.
"Donna is a highly respected Division I coach," said Stone. "She has given her time and talents to this program and the coaching profession for over 22 years. I thank her for her contributions and wish her the very best success in her new endeavors."
In her first stint at Wisconsin, Freitag helped turn a struggling Badger program into a nationally recognized team that received its first-ever bid to the NCAA tournament in 1992.
Under Stone, she coached the post players and served as recruiting coordinator. The Badgers haven't reached the NCAA tournament under Stone but went to the WNIT the last two seasons and in 2006-07 set a school record with 23 victories.
Wisconsin was forecast to contend for a Big Ten Conference title this season but started off 1-6 in league play. Though the Badgers rebounded and went 9-9 in the conference, they lost in the first round of the Big Ten tournament and in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament and finished 16-14 overall.
Freitag and Stone guided Oregon to the 1979 WIAA girls state basketball tournament. Freitag played two seasons at UW-Platteville, earning MVP honors both years, before transferring to Iowa and reuniting with Stone.
At Iowa, Freitag was named the Hawkeyes' team captain and most valuable player during her senior season in 1982-83. She went on to play two seasons of professional basketball for Team Tivoli in Dublin, Ireland, from 1983-85.
