This summer, Maryland women’s basketball found the perfect team-bonding ritual: binge-watching the popular TV show Love Island together.
Players gathered to watch each episode and discuss the show’s developments — a custom that grew so popular that coach Brenda Frese eventually wanted to learn about the phenomenon.
“What? What is Love Island? What’s happening?” Frese recalled asking her players.
Days of watching the show made it an unsuspecting connector between the new roster. Junior Oluchi Okananwa’s apartment was the hub. The transfer guard made pancakes as the team gathered after practice to watch the daily episodes, Frese said.
The program welcomed seven new players this offseason, including multiple additions from the transfer portal. Roster turnover has become a constant, but the presence of close-knit returners helps make sure the team’s chemistry never starts from scratch.
“I think it’s harder and harder now with the changes of your roster turning over,” Frese said. “But we’re just really intentional about building that chemistry.”
Frese planned a surprise for the show’s finale. The coach streamed the show on the jumbotron in Xfinity Center as players watched from the suite box with snacks.
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“We want to be around each other,” senior guard Kaylene Smikle said. “Extra things that we do outside that we don’t have to just makes a big difference.”
If the coach has to carry most of the chemistry in the locker room, the team won’t be as strong, according to Frese. She said the team is being purposeful about growing closer together this offseason.
Maryland’s roster includes five new international players — three of them freshmen — who came far from home to College Park. Lea Bartelme is from Slovenia, Marya Boiko from Belarus, Yarden Garzon from Israel, Nicole Fritea from Romania and Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu from England.
Freshman Addi Mack and Rainey Welson both arrive from the midwest United States. Mack, who was second-highest all-time high school scorer in Minnesota, received offers from four other Big Ten teams. She’s been impressed with the Terps’ chemistry early on.
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“I think I could call any single person if I needed something, and they would all answer and help,” Mack said. “I feel like I’ve been here for four years now. I feel like I’m that close.”
The team building over the summer session was player-motivated. With plans flying through the group chat, players are excited to be a part of what is important to each other, according to Frese. Garzon has brought teammates to local rodeos, while Breanna Williams gathered a group for a fishing trip. A recent plan to attend a circus even floated through the text chain.
The Terps have less than two months until the regular season begins, where they’ll open against Loyola on Nov. 3. They’ll start off against a few non-conference opponents in the same gym where they watched the Love Island finale.
“They’re really acclimating around what’s important to each player, and I haven’t seen that in a long time,” Frese said.
