Home Cooking for Aurelie. When Aurelie Noirez signed on as one of Brenda Frese's first 3 recruits (along with Shay Doron and Kalika France), she says she had no idea what kind of basketball program she was joining. Coming from France where basketball is played in a club system (rather than in academic institutions), she was primarily looking for an opportunity to come to the United States for an education, rather than looking to win a championship. A major university outside the capital of the United States sounded like as good an idea as any. Little did she know that she would be returning to France following her Junior season as a genuine celebrity as part of the European tour of the Maryland Terrapins, the 2006 National Champions.

When the BasketCases asked her after the championship whether her family back in France understood how BIG winning the "Natty" is here in the U.S., she reported that at first they didn't, but they learned very quickly when all the reporters started calling. She also told us that her sister's been inundated with requests for Aurelie's autograph; so I guess we know that Aurelie will be spending a lot of time with her Sharpie while on the Parisian leg of the Terps' tour. This trip may also provide an opportunity for Aurelie's family-members to thank Brenda Frese in person for allowing Aurelie to miss one non-conference game each of the last 2 seasons, so that Aurelie could spend Christmas at home in France with her family.

--Eileen