Alan Frey enters his first season as the head coach of the Northwestern State women’s basketball team, bringing more than 20 years of elite collegiate coaching experience and a proven championship pedigree to Natchitoches.
Hired in April 2026, Frey is widely recognized as a premier tactical mind and recruiter with deep, lifelong roots in the Louisiana basketball landscape. He continues a long-standing, successful tradition at Northwestern State of appointing elite, first-time Division I head coaches to lead the Lady Demons program, joining an illustrious list that includes Pat Nolen Pierson, James Smith, Jennifer Graf, Brooke and Scott Stoehr, Jordan Dupuy, Missy Bilderback, and Anna Nimz.
Prior to taking the reins at NSU, Frey spent the 2025–26 season as an assistant coach at Loyola University New Orleans. He played a pivotal role in leading the Wolf Pack to a dominant 25-5 overall record, marking a dramatic seven-game improvement over the previous season. Under his guidance, the team earned a berth in the NAIA National Tournament, advancing to the second round.
Frey spent the 2024–25 season on the East Coast at Monmouth University, where he helped engineer a 16-win campaign. The Hawks defended their home court fiercely, capturing 10 home victories, which marked the program's highest home win total since the 2011–12 season. While at Monmouth, he helped guide a roster that included All-CAA selections Damaris Rodriguez (First Team) and Taisha Exanor (Second Team), with Rodriguez becoming the first player in program history in 23 years to earn prestigious All-Metropolitan honors.
Before his recent stops, Frey built an extraordinary legacy over 18 seasons on the sidelines at Tulane University, serving as the lead assistant coach throughout his entire tenure. During his near two-decade run in New Orleans, Frey helped the Green Wave establish themselves as a consistent powerhouse, compiling a stellar 371-229 overall record while transforming in-state talent into collegiate standouts.
Tulane posted winning records in all but two of those seasons, highlighted by a pair of Conference USA regular season titles and a dozen postseason appearances, including a pair of NCAA Tournament berths. Utilizing his extensive connections across the state of Louisiana, he was instrumental in the program's recruiting efforts, notably helping bring current NSU assistant coach Kolby Morgan and former NSU coach Olivia Grayson to Tulane during their remarkable Tulane Hall of Fame careers.
Frey's coaching foundation is built on an unmatched run of success at the grassroots level. A New Orleans native, he was named the 1997 AAU National Coach of the Year and captured five AAU National Championships throughout his decorated club career. He guided his team to a gold medal at the 1996 Junior Olympics. At the state level, Frey’s teams completely dominated the circuit, capturing 15 consecutive Louisiana AAU state titles.
Over that 15-year span, Frey’s teams amassed an astonishing 79-1 record at the state tournament.
He resides in Natchitoches with his wife, Karen. The couple has three children: Halley, Garrett, and Hayden.
