As Maryland women’s basketball continues its summer workouts in College Park, coach Brenda Frese gave further information a week ago on three Terps who are returning from injuries.
Diamond Miller, Lavender Briggs and Faith Masonius all dealt with lower body injuries last season. As of a week ago, none had been cleared to return to full practices, Frese said, but she noted all three have been allowed to run and do skill work on the court.
“They look phenomenal,” Frese said. She noted that none of the three have had setbacks in their recovery.
The timetables for Miller and Briggs vary from Masonius’, Frese said. Masonius, who Frese said has also been running and shooting, faces a longer rehab time in her return from a torn ACL suffered on Jan. 2.
“Her window is going to be probably longer,” she said. “From what I remember hers was more nine months. I think the other two were going to be six.”
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The team hopes Miller and Briggs will be ready for the team’s November games, Frese said. She indicated they’re on path to be available then, but noted that their progress in the fall will be important.
Miller underwent knee surgery in early April after an injury-plagued year where she played just 18 games and saw statistical drops in points, rebounds, shooting percentage and free throw attempts.
She appeared in a video on the team’s Instagram page in June without a brace performing individual drills, driving to the hoop and shooting fadeaway jump shots.
“Diamond has a step to herself,” Frese said. “The old Diamond, you can just tell she’s super happy. I mean, she’s pain free, she’s explosive, she’s leading and she’s doing really well.”
Briggs, the former Florida guard who transferred to Maryland in January, missed most of last season with a stress fracture in her left shin. She can also be seen in the Instagram video participating in drills with Miller and transfer Abby Meyers.
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Frese called her a workhorse, saying that she’s dedicated to putting in work in the weight room.
“If you tell her to do 50 reps, she wants to do 100,” she said.
Briggs’ three-point shooting percentage dropped precipitously during her three years at Florida, going from 34.7 percent on 4.1 attempts per game as a freshman to 26.5 percent on 3.5 attempts as a junior.
But Frese lauded Briggs’ shooting ability, saying she could “flat out shoot the basketball.”
Maryland also made a change to their player development staff in late June. Kelsey Wolfe became the team’s new Associate Director of Basketball Performance after Keith Pough left for a similar job with East Carolina University’s men’s basketball team.
“Kelsey will have an immediate impact on our student-athletes as she has been in their shoes and can relate to each of them,” Frese said about Wolfe, a former University of Virginia guard. “This is Kelsey’s dream job and I’m thrilled for her to be a part of something so special.”
