Jeff Fryer

Bryce Alderton

Touch is a trait Jeff Fryer has always possessed on the basketball

court and whether in a European country or along Pacific Coast

Highway at the Balboa Bay Club, the former Corona del Mar High and

Loyola Marymount star now shares a lifetime of hoops knowledge with

those of all ages.

Fryer, 35, Loyola Marymount’s career leader in three-point field

goals with 363, took a job three weeks ago as a part-time assistant

with Azusa Pacific University’s women’s basketball team after

spending 1 1/2 years as an assistant coach on Servite High’s boys

varsity team. His 363 three-pointers ranks eighth on the NCAA

Division I all-time list.

“I made my decision pretty quick,” said Fryer, who spent seven

years off-and-on playing professionally in Germany with teams in

Dusseldorf, Neuverk and Berghigheim.

Fryer, the senior starting shooting guard on LMU’s magical 1990

team that advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament on the

heels of Hank Gathers’ death, played for the Houston Rockets in the

NBA’s pro summer league upon graduating from college.

He was voted Co-Most Valuable Player of the Sea View League his

senior year at CdM (1985-86). The Sea Kings went 23-5 that year,

claiming the league crown and advanced to the second round of the CIF

4-A playoffs.

Fryer would try out with the Rockets and Phoenix Suns before

taking his game to the Continental Basketball Association, considered

by many to be the “minor leagues” of the NBA, from 1990-92. In

Fryer’s first CBA season, the Patroons went 50-6. He averaged eight

points and started 15 games. Six players were called up to the NBA

from that team, he said.

Fryer had NBA dreams, but felt fortunate to even play at the

professional level.

“It was an eye-opening experience,” Fryer said of playing in

Germany and the CBA. He got to play for George Karl, a former coach

of the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics and Milwaukee Bucks, in the CBA. “I

caught myself a few times on the court saying, ‘Wow.’ I had to tone

it down a bit because I was so excited to be there. I tried to play

within my game.

“I was just excited to fulfill my dream as a kid to play

professional basketball player. God blessed me with the ability to

play and I worked on my game a lot.”

Fryer, who is fluent in German, spent three years in Europe before

returning to Southern California to work for two years.

But the basketball bug was still nibbling at his conscious.

He decided to return to northern Germany for another two years of

pro ball.

“I still had basketball in me,” Fryer said. “I wanted to play

longer because eventually I won’t be able to.

“Seeing another part of the globe was eye-opening for me. I felt

fortunate to have the opportunity to see almost every European

country.”

Fryer spent five hours a day in intensive classes to learn the

German language. One of his coaches made the transition a bit easier.

“He spoke a little English and eventually I had to learn German so

I could speak to him in practice and we would go over basketball

terminology, so that was helpful,” Fryer said.

His teammates also made the transition to German life easier for

Fryer.

“They really welcomed me, took me out and tried to make me feel at

home,” Fryer said.

Fryer played alongside former NBA players Mario Elie, Vincent

Askew and Ben McDonald, who ranks fifth on UC Irvine’s career scoring

list with 1,512 points.

Fryer saw first-hand how much it took to make it to the NBA.

“It takes a lot of perseverance, timing, hard work, dedication and

unselfishness,” he said. “Some of those guys were playing overseas

and came back to fulfill their dream of playing [in the NBA].”

Those aforementioned traits could describe the 1990 LMU team,

which endured through a tragedy when Gathers collapsed on the floor

during a game. He died soon after from heart failure. Fryer was on

the court when Gathers collapsed.

When he speaks with former teammates, Fryer said they don’t revert

to the tragedy too much. They know its there and they formed a bond.

“It was the first major death of someone close to me besides my

grandfather,” Fryer said. “It was something that made a lifelong

impression on my mind. It was pretty awesome the way Hank could throw

down a powerful dunk.

“The guys have developed a closeness that is hard to match. The

camaraderie of that team is something I will always remember”

Coaching has always been Fryer’s dream and it doesn’t stop with

the college level.

The Anaheim Hills resident readies for the final two weeks of an

eight-week youth basketball clinic held from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Balboa Bay Club for players ages 6-14.

Last summer Fryer, along with assistant Reed Carlson, hosted camps

five days a week for four hours each session. Skills ranging from

shooting, dribbling, passing and defense were all taught.

The clinics will most likely begin again in March or April, after

Azusa Pacific’s season ends, but for the next two weeks, Fryer’s

attention will be on the youth.

“I love working with kids,” he said.

He will substitute teach at Servite until the end of the fall

semester while trying to obtain an emergency credential. He hopes to

land a job closer to Azusa Pacific.

Fryer coached the boys basketball team at an American high school

in Germany for three years, winning the league title once.

“I really want to coach,” Fryer said. “The other stuff I do is

primarily to pay the rent.”