Nothin’ but Nate: Houma native looking for enhanced success at UNO

Nate Frye remembers everything about his past. He remembers growing up as the son of Freddie and Nadine Frye – the little boy who always had a ball in his hand and sneakers on his feet.

Frye remembers when he was a little older and evolved to become a standout athlete at Houma Christian. He was All-Everything for the Warriors. He was the team’s quarterback and starting point guard. If Houma Christian scored a touchdown, it was likely Frye who scored it. He got a few dozen in his senior year. In basketball, it was the same. He recorded upwards of 20 points in virtually every game.

He led the young athletic program to the playoffs in both, and was the talk of the town among the small, private Christian school.

But more vividly than them all, Frye remembers coming home on those nights after games and thinking about the future. He said he spent countless hours in his room wondering about the future. The Houma native said he’d wonder if he was good enough to make it to the next level. When doubt would creep in that he was just a small-town athlete unable to attain big city dreams, he quashed the negativity away and stayed focused. Those idle thoughts kept Frye in the weight room and gym where he made himself bigger, faster and stronger – the 205-pound block of concrete he is today.

But on some nights, Frye’s mind would wander so far away that he’d fall fast asleep. When asleep, he’d have dreams about the same thing – life after high school and what the future might hold.

Flash forward to the present and Frye’s mind is much more at ease. His mind no longer wanders and all of Frye’s mental questions have been answered in a big way.

Simply put – Nate Frye has conquered his doubts. He’s living the dream.

After graduating Houma Christian as one of the school’s most decorated athletes of all-time, Frye signed a basketball scholarship to continue his career with UNO.

After playing marginal minutes last year as a true freshman, Frye’s role expanded in the 2014-15 season. The Houma native started 28 games and averaged 10.3 points per game for the Privateers, who took steps forward competitively in their quest to one day win the Southland Conference Tournament.

“I’m living the dream, as my coach (Mark) Slessinger often puts it,” Frye said. “All my life, I’ve dreamed of playing at the Division-I level and playing in front of thousands of people. … Now that I’m here, it’s the best feeling and I’m enjoying every second of it, because I know it will come to an end at some point.”

But for the time being, Frye is just getting started.

As a freshman, the Houma Christian graduate was thrown into the fire right away by Slessinger, who said he loves the point guard’s athleticism and versatility.

“Nate is a guy who can impact a game in a lot of ways,” Slessinger said. “He’s a great athlete who is a team player. We love that he’s a hard worker who is always trying to find ways to better his game.”

Frye played 25 games as a freshman, logging 10.6 minutes per game off the bench for the Privateers.

But Nate said that the jump from Class 1A high school basketball to the Southland Conference wasn’t an easy one. He admitted that he had a lot of growing pains in that freshman season. Frye said he wasn’t always confident in himself and often yielded to UNO’s older players.

If youth wasn’t enough, Frye was also behind the 8-ball because of a labrum injury that sidelined him for several months of offseason training.

“Last year, I was just a young kid coming off an injury trying to learn the ropes,” Frye said.

But with 20-plus games under his belt and a full offseason to get stronger and more confident, Frye said he had a clear goal to be a better player as a sophomore.

He did, improving his stats across the board. In the process, he also took a leadership role within his team.

In 2014-15, Slessinger promoted Frye to the starting lineup, giving the sophomore guard almost three times the playing time that he received as a freshman.

Frye repaid the coach’s investment by shooting 39 percent from the 3-point line, 84 percent from the free throw line and posting a team-best 2.6 assists per game. Frye also led UNO with 44 steals.

Offensively, Frye eclipsed the 20-point barrier five times in the season, including UNO’s final game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – a Southland Tournament tilt that saw the local post 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

“To look at me now compared to last year, you’ll see a guard who was relaxed,” Frye said. “You’ll see a player who understand his coach’s strategy to succeed and a player who knew what he wanted to get done on the offensive and defensive ends. This year, I took more of a leadership role on the team. … I was 100 times more confident in my game because of the work that I put in during the offseason.”

So for Frye, the challenge is now to become more consistent and to reach the NCAA Tournament. The Houma native recited a quote from his father, touting it as his goal for the future.

The quote is, “It’s all about being consistent night-in and night-out. That is the difference between the average players and the great players.”

Frye said that this year, he was dominant in some games, but silent in others – something that he wants to remedy with another offseason to perfect his craft.

The guard said he also wants to see UNO’s team-wide goals to fruition. The Privateers were just 11-18 this season, but lost several games in the final minutes. With a slew of contributors coming back, Frye said he expects UNO to rebound and win those close games when the fall rolls back around.

The Privateers won a Southland Conference Tournament game this past season, but hope to win several more in the next few years – Frye’s junior and senior seasons with the team.

“We were so close to being that great team this year,” Frye said. “To paint a picture, imagine a man climbing up a steep mountain with loose dirt and rocks beneath him. That was us. We would climb so well up the mountain, but would slip right as we reached the top. Our goal as a team is to reach the top and be the great team that we know that we can be.”

For Frye, that would be the icing on the cake – the perfect ending to what’s already been a heck of an early collegiate career with UNO.

It’s the next dream he has in his mind.

And as history shows, Nate Frye is in the business of taking dreams and making them come true. It’s what he’s always done. It’s what he said he plans to continue doing.

“That’s the plan,” Frye said. “The goal of winning the conference tournament and getting to the Big Dance is our goal – just as it is for many other teams. That’s the next dream we want to accomplish, and we think we’re close. Just a few plays here or there and we can get there.”

AWAY FROM THE FLOOR

When not on the basketball hardwood, Frye is buried in his books, touting that balancing act of a student-athlete isn’t always easy.

Despite practices, games, workouts and a stiff curriculum, Frye has maintained a 3.0 GPA and is one of the Privateers’ top student-athletes.

Frye said his No. 1 goal is to play professional basketball – even if that journey takes him overseas.

But just to make sure that all of his bases are covered, Frye is majoring in exercise physiology so that he can be educated to possibly have a career in training.

He said that he attacks his books the same way that he attacks basketball – with energy and enthusiasm.

Frye said that he loves basketball, but understands that there will come a time that his body will not be blessed with the ability to play it at a competitive level.

That’s when he’ll need to use his brain to make a living.

“UNO is one of the toughest universities in Louisiana,” Frye said. “I would like to become an athletic trainer if pro ball isn’t in my future. Getting to know my teachers and staying actively engaged in classroom discussions has been one of the reasons for my success academically.”

Houma native and UNO standout guard Nate Frye shoots a 3-pointer during a game this past season. In his sophomore season with the Privateers, the Houma Christian graduate evolved as one of UNO’s leaders. Frye avaraged 10.3 points per game and started 28 times. Frye said this week that he’s living the dream, touting that he remembers a time when he wondered whether or not he’d be able to compete at the college level.

COURTESY PHOTO