Tilman John Gros Jr.
May 2, 2013Coaching carousel spins locally
May 7, 2013
Houma Christian senior Nate Frye said his father and coach Freddie Frye challenged him to leave a legacy during his time with the Warriors.
Mission accomplished.
Thanks in part to the young Frye’s athletic prowess, the Warriors established themselves as a local athletic power.
The boys’ basketball team has become an annual playoff contender, and the school’s football program made it to the Class 1A State Playoffs in just its second-ever full-time season.
This week, Frye signed up for another athletic challenge.
This one is about an hour up the road from Houma.
The Houma Christian standout athlete signed a National Letter of Intent this week to continue his basketball career at the University of New Orleans.
Frye said he chose to be a Privateer after holding scholarship offers from a handful of programs at both the Division I and Junior College level.
“We’re trying to build up this program here at UNO,” Frye said. “One of the big things I was thinking about was with me being at Houma Christian; together we built up our program to where it is now during my time there. I like this challenge, because I think we can do the same thing now to go and build up UNO, as well.”
Frye’s path to UNO wasn’t always certain.
The senior said he initially was committed to attend the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga – a small school in the Southern Conference.
But Frye said the commitment faded when the school announced that it had fired longtime coach John Shulman – the man who was recruiting the Houma Christian guard into the program.
Frye said once he became aware that Shulman was fired, he knew that he needed another option because he wasn’t sure if the Mocs’ new coach would honor the scholarship offer laid unto him by the former coach.
“I know that when a new coach comes in, sometimes he wants his own players,” Frye said. “I knew that if their new coach got hired and wanted to bring in his own guys, then I’d be out of a spot.
“I wasn’t guaranteed a spot there anymore, and we didn’t want to put all of our eggs into one basket to where by the time their new coach got there, I’d maybe not have a scholarship there anymore, and then I’d be without options to find a team elsewhere.”
That’s where UNO came into the fold.
Frye said the Privateers coach Mark Slessinger has always been impressed with his skills, but they didn’t recruit him very hard at first because they thought he had signed with Chattanooga.
“I put on Twitter that I was decommitted from Chattanooga and that I was re-opening my recruitment,” Frye said. “Once I did that, they called and left me a message when I was on my way to Atlanta. They told me they wanted me in for a visit. They said that Coach Slessinger had seen a video on YouTube, and that he kept saying a bunch of stuff about me and how he liked how I played. But they didn’t think they could touch me, because they thought I was signed.
“Once he found out that I wasn’t signed, he went after me full-fledged. He brought us to the campus, and we liked what we saw. The coaches said they liked what I brought to the table character-wise. So all of those things together led to all of this taking place.”
With the Privateers, Frye will now be a part of another rebuilding project, as UNO transitions back to Division I athletics after a short stint in the Division III ranks.
The Privateers will be making the jump into the Southland Conference next year – the same league that Nicholls State, Southeastern Louisiana, McNeese State and Northwestern State currently occupy.
Frye said his biggest goal of his college career is to see the UNO Lakefront Arena “jam-packed”.
He aims to return the team to its past glory.
“I know a lot of people tell me all of the time, ‘Nate, you should be playing for a bigger school or a bigger program,’” Frye said. “And as a kid, I always watched North Carolina, Duke, Kansas and all of the big teams like that. I dreamed of playing for a team like that. But I like to be the underdog. I love challenges. That’s not to say that I want to be an underdog my whole life – that’s just to say that I think by the time we are finished building here, we won’t be considered ‘that small school’ anymore.
“We did it at Houma Christian. It’s a similar situation here.”
Frye said he hopes to attend summer school at UNO and hopes to major in engineering.
“I can’t wait,” Frye said. “I’m very excited. It’s just like a dream that’s come true for me. I cannot wait to get started at UNO and to begin my journey there. I’m always going to miss high school and Houma Christian. That place means the world to me. But I’m going to be close to home, and everyone will be able to see me play. It’s going to be excellent.”
Vandy’s Smith inks with Peru State
While Frye signed his pledge to UNO, another Houma athlete agreed to extend his athletic career this week.
Vandebilt Catholic halfback Aaron Smith signed a National Letter of Intent to play for Peru State – a NAIA school in Peru, Neb.
In Smith, the Cougars will be receiving the services of an accomplished workhorse.
The bulky 205-pound running back rushed for 846 yards last season – earning tough inside yardage for the Terriers.
Smith said he will either be a halfback or a fullback with Peru State.
He added that he cannot wait to become a collegiate football player.
Houma Christian guard Nate Frye (left) battles the Ellender defense for a loose ball during a game this past season. Known for his energetic play and vast athleticism, Frye signed a National Letter of Intent this week to play college basketball with the University of New Orleans. He said he cannot wait to join the team, which is moving to the Southland Conference next season.
