Moms who played college ball are changing the game
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The traditional role of the basketball mom is pretty straightforward: write the checks, do the driving, and be a positive voice from the sidelines. That was then, this is now. Some 50 years after the passage of Title IX, the generational impact of creating equal opportunities for girls and women in sports is hitting home in Minnesota girls basketball. More and more moms of current Prep Girls Hoops prospects played college basketball themselves. But only one earned a Division 1 national championship at the University of Connecticut.
Brenda Wilson (then Marquis) was a member of the 1994-95 UConn squad that went 35-0 under the legendary coach Geno Auriemma. “We won it right here at the Target Center, so the Final Four coming back here next year is kind of a homecoming in a sense,” Wilson said when prompted to share her memories of the occasion. “I had some great teammates... Rebecca Lobo, Jen Rizzotti, Nykesha Sales, Jamelle Elliott, Carla Berube, Kara Wolters.”
The Plainfield, Conn., native played three years for the Huskies before leaving her basketball career behind. She met her husband Norries shortly after graduation. He has been a college football coach for 30 years – the first African American head coach in the Ivy League at Columbia – and is on the staff at the University of Minnesota where he also played in the 1980s.
Brenda’s daughter [player_tooltip player_id="335641" first="Trinity" last="Wilson"] is a big post player at Lakeville North, a talented young athlete who is quickly making a name for herself in the Class of 2024. Since returning from knee surgery mid-summer, Trinity’s game has taken off and the nearly 6’3 center is slated to play next spring for North Tartan EYBL. There’s no question that Brenda’s UConn experience is playing a significant role in 14-year-old Trinity’s evolution as a college prospect.
“If you ask her she’ll tell you she also wants to go to UConn,” Brenda said. “She also knows that’s a steep pull nowadays. When I played she probably could have played there but obviously the competition has probably gone up tenfold... I was a post player back then, too, but things have changed for post players... I’m not going to lie. Back then Geno didn’t really let us dribble the ball,” she said with a laugh. “It was pretty much catch and turn and shoot.”
Brenda learned a lot playing for Auriemma. “We didn’t always see eye to eye on things but I can look back now and see that he was probably one of the biggest people in my life to kind of drive where I am at now,” she said. “I learned that you have to work hard all the time or you aren’t going to have a spot.”
There really wasn’t any question that Trinity was going to play basketball. She has always been the biggest one in her class so it was only natural that mom would put a ball in her hands and teach Trinity how to play the game the right way. “She ended up loving it,” Brenda said.
Mom is trying to deliver another message to her daughter: there’s more to life than basketball. After having a singular focus while growing up in a small town, Brenda wasn’t really prepared for the overall college experience. She wants her daughter to enjoy the journey. “Yeah, you are a basketball player, but sometimes you’ve got to put the ball down and go have fun with your friends,” Brenda said. “That’s one thing I didn’t do.”
[caption id="attachment_336879" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Kate Holmquist and mom Jaime[/caption]
A plethora of moms in the know
The Wilsons aren’t the only mother-daughter combination currently involved in youth basketball in Minnesota. Although we’re probably omitting some of the twosomes who fit the description – for sure several who played at the Division 3 level – the list includes:
Laurie Kelly and daughter Morgan[/caption]
All-American, D1 college coach, mom
One mother who has a truly unique perspective on this subject is Laurie Kelly, mom of St. Peter graduate [player_tooltip player_id="109765" first="Morgan" last="Kelly"], who is about to embark on her freshman year at Gustavus Adolphus College in her home town. Laurie happens to be the coach at Gustavus and was a successful Division 1 coach before that. Known as Laurie Trow in her playing days, the Rochester native is one of the most decorated athletes in history at the University of St. Thomas.
Kelly is the only women’s basketball player in NCAA history to score in double figures in 100 or more consecutive games, which she did in all 113 games of her UST career. As a sophomore, she led the 1990-91 Tommie team to the NCAA Division 3 national championship, averaging nearly 30 points and 10 rebounds a game. She ranks first in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) in career scoring (2,607 points), rebounding (1,204) and blocked shots (203), and is among the top 5 scorers in NCAA D3 history. Among her teammates on that championship squad was Amy Lamker, whose daughter [player_tooltip player_id="57081" first="Jordyn" last="Lamker"] is a freshman at St. Thomas, and Kari Schultz, whose daughter [player_tooltip player_id="57917" first="Ally" last="Schultz"] has committed to Concordia-St. Paul.
That’s a heck of a resume, isn’t it? But she’s also a basketball mom. “For me, I always take the approach that I’m the mom first,” Laurie explained. “Sometimes they just need a hug. Sometimes they just need a mom because they already have a coach. At other times they want the viewpoint of a coach. For me I have tried to separate those two roles.”
Laurie and her husband Matt never pushed Morgan to play, and didn’t focus much on skill development, either. She just played. In fact, Morgan didn’t even play AAU basketball until she was well into high school. She still finished her high school career as a Top 60 prospect. “We kind of waited a little bit longer for sure than the average person does today. That’s probably the reason why Morgan isn’t a scholarship athlete now,” Kelly said.
With Laurie coaching at the D1 level when Morgan was very young, it’s not like she didn’t pick up a thing or two along the way. Morgan grew up in the gym with college players pushing her around the court in the ball cart. This season the relationship will transition from mother-daughter to coach-player. “I have never coached her in anything in my life,” Laurie said. “I never wanted to lose the mother-daughter relationship, which can be challenging when they are teenagers. I never wanted that to be affected by basketball getting in the way... This will be an interesting year for me, that’s for sure!”
Top photo: Brenda (Marquis) Wilson and her daughter [player_tooltip player_id="335641" first="Trinity" last="Wilson"].
Kate Holmquist and mom Jaime[/caption]
A plethora of moms in the know
The Wilsons aren’t the only mother-daughter combination currently involved in youth basketball in Minnesota. Although we’re probably omitting some of the twosomes who fit the description – for sure several who played at the Division 3 level – the list includes:
- Kelly Britz is the mother of [player_tooltip player_id="108315" first="Sophi" last="Hall"], a 2023 wing from Holy Family who recently committed to Providence College. Kelly is one of the premier players in the history of women’s basketball at the University of North Dakota
- Jaime Holmquist’s storied college basketball career overlapped with Britz’s at UND, where she was known as Jaime Pudenz. Just like her mom, daughter Kate Holmquist is an athletic floor general. The 2026 from Maple Grove is definitely a next-level prospect.
- Angie Meister played at South Dakota State University. She is the mom of 2022 top 10 talent [player_tooltip player_id="12722" first="Lilly" last="Meister"] of Rochester John Marshall, who is committed to Indiana. Lilly’s younger sister Laynie is a 2025 prospect.
- Ashley Wolf is the mom of standout freshman [player_tooltip player_id="252387" first="Aaliyah" last="Crump"] of Minnetonka, widely considered to be Minnesota’s top prospect in the Class of 2025. Ashley played ball at Central Methodist University in Missouri.
- [player_tooltip player_id="220827" first="Annika" last="Anderson"] of Eden Prairie doesn’t have to look far for positive basketball influence. The 2023 guard’s mom was Minnesota’s Miss Basketball at Bloomington Jefferson in 1994. Kiersten Miller went on to be an all-time great at Drake University, finishing with 1,598 career points and setting a school record for the most three-point baskets in a season.
- Leah Dasovich is the head coach at Minnetonka High School. She is also mom to elite 2024 prospect [player_tooltip player_id="178260" first="Emma" last="Dasovich"]. Leah played at St. Cloud State alongside Jessica Forsline, whose daughter [player_tooltip player_id="147457" first="Kora" last="Forsline"] is a next-level prospect from Mesabi East in the Class of 2022.
- A pair of standout 2026 point guards learned how to play the game from their moms, too. Laura Moore, mother of 2026 Mya Moore and 2028 Ally Moore, played at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Jessica Shindelar, whose daughter Audrey Shindelar is a rising star at Stewartville, played at Northern Colorado.
- Stacy Janicki, mom of 2020 grad [player_tooltip player_id="1968" first="Ella" last="Janicki"] of White Bear Lake, was also a Minnesota Miss Basketball. Stacy won the award in 1992 at Mounds View when she was known as Stacy Fields. She went on to play at Notre Dame.
- And then there’s Angie Iverson-Ohnstad. The Owatonna native finished her college days among the top 10 career scorers of all time at the University of Minnesota. Today she is the head coach at Lakeville South and the mom of [player_tooltip player_id="178270" first="Finley" last="Ohnstad"], a top prospect in the Class of 2024.
Laurie Kelly and daughter Morgan[/caption]
All-American, D1 college coach, mom
One mother who has a truly unique perspective on this subject is Laurie Kelly, mom of St. Peter graduate [player_tooltip player_id="109765" first="Morgan" last="Kelly"], who is about to embark on her freshman year at Gustavus Adolphus College in her home town. Laurie happens to be the coach at Gustavus and was a successful Division 1 coach before that. Known as Laurie Trow in her playing days, the Rochester native is one of the most decorated athletes in history at the University of St. Thomas.
Kelly is the only women’s basketball player in NCAA history to score in double figures in 100 or more consecutive games, which she did in all 113 games of her UST career. As a sophomore, she led the 1990-91 Tommie team to the NCAA Division 3 national championship, averaging nearly 30 points and 10 rebounds a game. She ranks first in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) in career scoring (2,607 points), rebounding (1,204) and blocked shots (203), and is among the top 5 scorers in NCAA D3 history. Among her teammates on that championship squad was Amy Lamker, whose daughter [player_tooltip player_id="57081" first="Jordyn" last="Lamker"] is a freshman at St. Thomas, and Kari Schultz, whose daughter [player_tooltip player_id="57917" first="Ally" last="Schultz"] has committed to Concordia-St. Paul.
That’s a heck of a resume, isn’t it? But she’s also a basketball mom. “For me, I always take the approach that I’m the mom first,” Laurie explained. “Sometimes they just need a hug. Sometimes they just need a mom because they already have a coach. At other times they want the viewpoint of a coach. For me I have tried to separate those two roles.”
Laurie and her husband Matt never pushed Morgan to play, and didn’t focus much on skill development, either. She just played. In fact, Morgan didn’t even play AAU basketball until she was well into high school. She still finished her high school career as a Top 60 prospect. “We kind of waited a little bit longer for sure than the average person does today. That’s probably the reason why Morgan isn’t a scholarship athlete now,” Kelly said.
With Laurie coaching at the D1 level when Morgan was very young, it’s not like she didn’t pick up a thing or two along the way. Morgan grew up in the gym with college players pushing her around the court in the ball cart. This season the relationship will transition from mother-daughter to coach-player. “I have never coached her in anything in my life,” Laurie said. “I never wanted to lose the mother-daughter relationship, which can be challenging when they are teenagers. I never wanted that to be affected by basketball getting in the way... This will be an interesting year for me, that’s for sure!”
Top photo: Brenda (Marquis) Wilson and her daughter [player_tooltip player_id="335641" first="Trinity" last="Wilson"]. 
