Wisconsin Women’s Basketball Hires New Assistant to Complete Staff

On Tuesday evening, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team announced that they have hired Frozena Jerro as an assistant coach to round out Marisa Moseley’s staff. Jerro was an assistant at Cleveland State for the past six seasons and has been a collegiate coach for over 25 years.

Per a UW release, Jerro said: “I am thrilled and deeply appreciative to become a part of Coach Moseley’s staff at the University of Wisconsin,” said Jerro. “She is a proven champion, and I admire her dedication to advancing our sport, as well as the leadership she offers in guiding the young women we have the privilege to coach. It’s an exciting era for Badger Women’s Basketball! I feel honored to have the chance to contribute my experience, love for the game, and mentorship to further build upon the remarkable strides made by an exceptional staff and committed, talented student-athletes.”

We’re so excited to announce the addition of Frozena Jerro (@coach_fro_hoops) to our staff as an assistant coach!

Welcome to Madison, coach!

📰| https://t.co/nvrkb17HdM#OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/qyPUT2qkD7

— Wisconsin Women’s Basketball (@BadgerWBB) May 28, 2024

Since graduating from Arizona State in 1993 (she played two years at ASU and two years at Saint Mary’s), where she was a team captain, a Pac-10 Conference All-Star, and helped lead the Sun Devils to an NCAA Tournament bid, Jerro has coached all over the country. Here is an overview of Jerro’s career as best I can put together:

• 1993-1995, assistant coach, University of Houston
• 1996-1997, assistant coach, Cal State-Northridge
• 1998-2001, head coach, Cal State-Northridge
• 2002-2008, assistant coach, UNLV
• 2009-2010, assistant coach/lead recruiter, NJIT
• 2010-2011, assistant coach, West Los Angeles College
• 2011-2018, assistant coach/associate head coach/recruiting coordinator, UIC
• 2018-2024, assistant coach, Cleveland State

I don’t think all of the years line up exactly because each school notes seasons differently, but you get the gist. In the Fun Fact Department: Jerro played her two years at ASU under current Wisconsin Badgers assistant coach Margaret McKeon who was a Sun Devils assistant at the time. They then overlapped at Houston on the same coaching staff and finally McKeon, now a head coach, hired Jerro to her staff at NJIT.

While in the Horizon league with Cleveland State and UIC, Jerro helped develop 22 all-league selections, five Horizon League Defensive Players of the Year, and two Horizon League Players of the Year. Cleveland State won the 2024 regular season title and the 2023 Horizon League Tournament title with Jerro on the sidelines. She helped UIC to the 2014 WBI Championship and UNLV to a 2004 WNIT Runner-Up spot as an assistant too.

During her only tenure as a head coach, Jerro really ran the gamut of highs and lows. She took over a Cal State-Northridge program, at the age of 27, that was reeling from their previous head coach being led away in handcuffs by the FBI due to interstate drug trafficking charges and took them, mere months later, to a Big Sky Conference title and an NCAA Tournament bid. She was, obviously, named the Big Sky Coach of the Year for the 1998-1999 season. However, after that first magical season, things took a downwards turn. By her third year in charge the Matadors finished with a 9-18-1 (do NOT ask me about the “1” there because I have no clue what it is or how a basketball team tied a game) record and then she started off season four with five straight losses before abruptly resigning.

On Dec. 8, 2001, Jerro informed CSUN that she was resigning after a team practice for which she was not present, according to the LA Times. “She is absolutely gone … she is not here,” Northridge spokesman Ryan Finney told the Times. “We have had no contact with her since Saturday and have absolutely no idea where she is. We don’t know why now and why at this particular time. She was apparently at a loss what to do [with the team] and she was frustrated.”

The LA Times post goes on to say that apparently Jerro butted heads with All-American guard Edniesha Curry (she later transferred to Oregon) in 2000 which was just the beginning of her problems which continued into the 2001 season. 

In an alumni profile from her high school (Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep in California) that was posted at an indeterminate date (but after 2015 since there is a picture of her 2014-15 UIC team in the profile) Jerro noted that “I was very young and I had to learn how to manage a team and wear a lot of different hats. The basketball side was easier because it came naturally to me. Managing personalities was more of a challenge and through trial and error I became more understanding of team dynamics and how to run a program.”

Obviously a lot can change in 20-plus years and it would seem pretty clear that Jerro has matured and evolved as a coach since her head coaching stint at CSUN. Hell, her own head coach at Cleveland State was stumping for someone to hire her away from him just this past March!

Kielsmeier held up the end of his press conference to pitch assistant coach Frozena Jerro for a head coaching job: “Coach Fro deserves some head coaching interviews. Coach Fro is ready to be a head coach, and I want to put that out there very loud and very clear.”

— Kyle from HoriZone (@KyleHZRT) March 12, 2024

“I am thrilled to announce the hiring of Frozena Jerro as our new assistant coach,” Moseley stated in the UW release. “She comes to Madison following a successful twenty-year career as an assistant, highlighted by several NCAA Tournament appearances. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the position and is a proven developer of both players and women. I am confident she will help take us to the next level.”

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