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| New Northern Illinois women's basketball coach Kathi Bennett (center) speaks with NIU President John Peters (right) and Director of Athletics Jeff Compher (left) at the NIU Convocation Center. (Beck Diefenbach – bdiefenbach@daily-chronicle.com) |
Northern Illinois women's basketball coach Kathi Bennett announced Friday who will join her on the bench as her assistant coaches this season.
Bennett's staff will include one familiar face in assistant E.C. Hill, who also was an assistant coach under Carol Owens. Former Ball State assistant and Illinois associate head coach Marsha Frese and former Milwaukee assistant coach Joe Conroy complete the trio of assistants for Bennett, who was hired 11 days ago.
"Our chemistry is great, and I think that will feed to our team," Bennett said in a news release.
Frese brings a strong reputation in recruiting. She brought in top-15 recruiting classes at both Maryland and Minnesota, including the signing of two high school All-Americans. Frese spent last season as an assistant at Ball State and was at Illinois for four years.
"I'm very fortunate to have Marsha's feel for the game, her experience building programs, and her experience recruiting the Chicago area from her time at Illinois and Ball State," Bennett said.
Conroy worked as Director of Basketball Operations under former NIU Head Coach Carol Hammerle from 1998-2000. Since then, he has spent time at Eastern Illinois and Milwaukee.
Hill is the lone holdover from Owens' staff.
"Having E.C. stay is a blessing," Bennett said. "I spent a day with her in Chicago, and the relationships that she has built up in the city and in this surrounding area are pretty special."
