Fruendt Joins Illinois Women’s Basketball Staff as Assistant Coach

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini women’s basketball head coach Shauna Green has announced the hiring of Liza Fruendt (LYE-zuh FRU-indt) as an assistant coach. Fruendt joins the Illinois program after three seasons on Tennessee’s staff.

“I’m very excited to have Liza join our staff,” Green shared. She brings great experience from her time at Tennessee and I’m looking forward to her bringing fresh ideas to our program. She knows what it takes to make runs in the NCAA tournament and recruit elite student-athletes from her time at Tennessee. Liza was a great player at Missouri State and will be able to use that knowledge as she helps our players develop both on and off the floor. I also love that she is from Illinois and has a passion for this state.”

“I am so excited to join Coach Shauna and to be coming home to the state of Illinois,” shared Fruendt. “The opportunity to join a program on the rise with an elite coaching staff is something I couldn’t pass up. I am extremely grateful to Coach Shauna for the opportunity to join the FamILLy and ready to get to work!”

Fruendt joined the Lady Vols staff as the director of recruiting operations prior to the 2021-22 campaign and served two years in that position before being elevated to an assistant coach in conjunction with the NCAA legislation that went into effect on July 1, 2023.

Most recently, during the 2023-24 season, Tennessee owned a 20-13 overall record while going 10-6 in SEC play and making an SEC Tournament semifinals appearance. The Lady Vols won their NCAA Tournament First Round game over Green Bay before falling to No. 11 NC State in the Second Round to conclude the season.

Fruendt was part of the UT staff that forged back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 appearances (2022 & 2023) and, in 2024, produced its fourth straight first-round WNBA Draft pick.

On the recruiting front, Fruendt played a role in Tennessee landing the No. 6 transfer class in 2023 and a group in 2022 that included No. 4-rated Rickea Jackson, No. 12 Jasmine Powell, and No. 16 Jasmine Franklin along with No. 35-ranked espnW 100 standout Kaniya Boyd.

 
Fruendt headed to Rocky Top after spending the 2020-21 season as a senior associate consultant for Cerner Corporation. Prior to that, she served two seasons as a graduate assistant with the women’s basketball program at Kansas City (UMKC).

A standout on teams coached by Kellie Harper while she was at Missouri State, Fruendt excelled both on and off the court as a Lady Bear. She was named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team (2015), All-MVC First Team (2017, 2018), and MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team (2017, 2018).

A native of Batavia, Illinois, Fruendt is a 2018 graduate of Missouri State with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and she earned a master’s in business administration in 2020 from Kansas City.