THE FRUENDT FILE

Personal Information

Name: Liza Fruendt
Birthday: July 11, 1996
Hometown: Geneva, Ill.
High School: Batavia
Education: B.S. (Business Administration), Missouri State, 2018; M.S. (Business Administration), University of Missouri - Kansas City, 2020

Basketball Experience

OVERALL

Record as a college assistant is 20-13 in one season
Has helped programs to one postseason appearance (1 NCAA)
Boasts nine years of experience in the college basketball world, serving as assistant coach (2023-24) and director of recruiting operations for Tennessee (2021-23), as a graduate assistant coach at Kansas City (2018-20) and playing at Missouri State under head coach Kellie Harper (2014-18)

TENNESSEE

Assistant Coach (2023-present)
Director of Recruiting Operations (2021-23)
One-year record: 20-13
One postseason appearance (1 NCAA)
2024 NCAA Second Round
Helped land the No. 6 NCAA Transfer Portal signing class as UT's director of recruiting operations in 2023
Assisted in recruiting No. 35-ranked espnW 100 class of 2024 guard Kaniya Boyd to Tennessee

In her third season at Tennessee in 2023-24 but first year as an assistant coach is Liza Fruendt, who served from 2021-23 as the Lady Vols' director of recruiting operations on the staff of her college head coach, Kellie Harper.

Fruendt has been part of a UT staff that has forged back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 appearances (2022 & 2023) and in 2023 produced its third straight first-round WNBA Draft pick. It also made its first SEC Tournament championship game appearance since 2015 after defeating LSU during the 2023 conference tourney semifinals.

On the recruiting front, Fruendt played a role in Tennessee landing the No. 6 transfer class in 2023 (Jewel Spear, Destinee Wells, Avery Strickland, Talaysia, Cooper) and a group in 2022 that included No. 4 rated Rickea Jackson, No. 12 Jasmine Powell, No. 16 Jasmine Franklin and a somehow unranked Jillian Hollingshead. UT also welcome No. 35-ranked espnW 100 standout Kaniya Boyd.

Fruendt came to Rocky Top after spending 2020-21 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 the University of Missouri-Kansas City. While with the Roos, she became versed in video production and scouting technology, consulted with staff on various aspects of recruiting, implemented social media strategy and also assisted with other day-to-day duties.

A standout on teams coached by 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).

Fruendt scored 1,656 career points, good for seventh on MSU’s all-time list. The Batavia, Illinois, native also finished her career in the top 10 all-time in field goals and three-pointers. She is one of five Lady Bears to score 1,500 points and record 400 rebounds and 200 three-pointers. During her junior year, Fruendt scored 46 points on March 2, 2017, at No 22 Drake, the fifth-best total in school history behind only Jackie Stiles, and fourth-highest mark in NCAA Division I in 2016-17.

Fruendt is a 2018 graduate of Missouri State with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and earned a master’s in business administration in 2020 from Kansas City. She has a brother, Nick, who played at Northwestern University and a sister, Sara, who played at the University of Dubuque. All three Fruendt siblings attended Batavia High School, where Liza scored a school-record 1,921 points.