Eye on the Storm Podcast: Fran Fraschilla

SJUDave

SJUDave

Well-known member
If there is one interview / episode I want to shamelessly plug to everyone here, it's this one. I know Coach Fran is a lightning rod of a topic and a lot of people feel a sort of way about him. From the stories about his departure, to the lead up, to the elite eight team afterwards...truth is Fran was the last coach that had this team on the door step of national relevancy. It was his guys who went to the elite eight with Jarvis.

So we talk about it all, his hire, his firing, watching that elite eight team from home, recruiting, SJU hiring Rick Pitino, getting in the middle of Pitino and Hurley on twitter and so much more. Audio and video available.

Fran was open, honest, and transparent. He had no issues talking about any and every topic and we could have gone on another two-three hours. I hope you enjoy

(I know we have the podcast thread but I feel like not everyone goes in there, and this is something that appeals to everyone on this board top to bottom.)





 
SJUDave said:
If there is one interview / episode I want to shamelessly plug to everyone here, it's this one. I know Coach Fran is a lightning rod of a topic and a lot of people feel a sort of way about him. From the stories about his departure, to the lead up, to the elite eight team afterwards...truth is Fran was the last coach that had this team on the door step of national relevancy. It was his guys who went to the elite eight with Jarvis.

So we talk about it all, his hire, his firing, watching that elite eight team from home, recruiting, SJU hiring Rick Pitino, getting in the middle of Pitino and Hurley on twitter and so much more. Audio and video available.

Fran was open, honest, and transparent. He had no issues talking about any and every topic and we could have gone on another two-three hours. I hope you enjoy

(I know we have the podcast thread but I feel like not everyone goes in there, and this is something that appeals to everyone on this board top to bottom.)





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Great interview. It was nice to hear Fran be honest to say he rooted against the players he recruited. Class Act.
 
Wow…what a great interview…all what Fran said was so true. Honestly, Fran was one of my favorite coaches at SJU…and what people said about him being a young coaching genius…all true!. What he did in scouting, how he prepared the players on the court was amazing. He was the first coach to bring out a large tv right on the court and wipe board. We placed all the team chairs in a semi circle. Diagram the opposing players plays, then watch it on film so the players could see exactly who they were covering, then go on the court and do the exact defensive play against our scout team. Then repeat with another play and so on. He had an assistant coach name Brian Cousins who had an analytical mind, was a stat genius . Reminded me of Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind. Just a math wizard. Brian would pull plays and percentages as the game progressed to assist Fran. He left to go to Texas with Rick Barnes.
If Fran had stayed, there was no doubt we would have been a Final Four team multiple times in the 90’s and early 2000’s.
And also we had a Fran stat…I would go to the local art store and get a fluorescent type of tape. Fran had a habit that after a bad play in practice, he would either throw or kick a basketball into the upper reaches of the Alumni Hall stands. I would then give the tape to a student manager and he would place the tape on the landing location of the ball. Each time we would note the location and see if that was a new “tape measure shot”. We left a few tape placements at MSG and on the road too. I’m sure no one figured it out at those arenas! 🤔
 
blackpeter24 said:
Great job getting Fran as your guest. If you were a SJU fan when Fran was our coach, you know everything he said on your podcast was true. He was poised to take SJU to greatness.
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I haven't listened yet so not sure if he said it on the podcast, but Fran always insisted Marbury would have been here if he were here earlier.
 
Great job Dave, I always thought Ed Manetta ran him out of town, but it was the genius that was Fr Harrington. He had very nice things to say about Ed. Also the Detroit game in NCAA took credit for over coaching his guys putting too much pressure on them. What could have been with Fran if he stayed, and what could have been if Bootsy played the 1997-98 season instead of redshirting.
 
He was fired on the day of our SJU Athletic Awards Banquet. Coach never had the opportunity to speak to his team or the staff. We thought something was up when Public Safety was stationed outside the glass doors leading into the coaches offices, which are now the Athletic Director and his staff offices. Others were in there packing up all of Fran’s belongings in large boxes. I believe Fran’s wife and son’s were on their way to campus for the Awards event. I received a call from either Ed Manetta or our SID and my road trip roomie, Dom Scianna informing me. The staff pretty much was in shock at the banquet as were most of the other sport coaching staffs and athletic depart personnel. Crazy day.
And what was really nuts was that when Fran got the New Mexico job in 1999-2000, we were one of his first opponents as we were playing in the CoSida Classic in Albuquerque. Beat him in the 2nd game 70-62.
 
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Great interview, but I know that if Fran is telling the complete truth, then someone i trust is lying and at this point would have no reason to.

I loved the detail about recruiting Artest and Elton Brand, namely one or the other. As a high schooler Brand was more highly regarded, but for certain we didn't do badly getting Artest, though a friend in the AD heard Jarvis say after Ron left that he was the craziest kid he had ever coached.

I'm not sure I'd buy Fran's explanation of why he interviewed at ASU. First off he said his contact permitted it, and I'm going to guess that he was bending the truth to really mean his contract didn't prohibit it.

Secondly, he claimed, perhaps rightly.that he was the lowest paid coach in the Big East,.but pretty certain that coming from.Manhattan he had gotten huge bump. From memory I think Looie made 125k, and Mahoney topped out at 400k. I cannot imagine that if Fran made 80k at Manhattan that he was making less than 225k at St. John's. Cal may have advised him to shop himself, but coming off a disappointing first round ncaa exit with Lopez, Zendon, turner and Artest his timing was awful.

Zendon, who I love and is a friend, may be gratuitous in telling Fran thank you for making him an NBA player, but I remember no noticable improvement in Z under Fran in terms of his overall game. Zendon was an NBA talent in my opinion, and if he had Pitino as a coach may have been an NBA force.

Booting basketballs into the stands in fits of anger is consistent with ridiculous behavior to players, well documented. Not that Fran is alone. Knight was alleged by player to do those sorts of things, once exiting from a bathroom visit at practice with some dirty toilet paper amd screaming at his players, "this is what you are playing like".

If Fran admits to being "an asshole" leading up to the Detroit game, there's a very good chance that act long preceded it and wore thin on Harrington and Manetta (less so Manetta). I recall he inflamed a player's mom who questioned whybher son wasn't playing more, and he essentially said "Look who is syarying ahead of him. Your son stinks"

Fran was by all means a plugged in great local recruiter. Did he develop Felipe or Zendon and take them to their best seasons? No. I would say Fran had some of the components of a great coach, but was missing some key attributes that undid him. After getting fired by st. Johns and NM I can't imagine there wete many D1 takers. All in all I have no malice, but we certainly didn't fumble away the next Jay Wright.

Ah, also Fran dispelled the myth that Calipari ever wanted this job. That was my recollection too. I

In the end Fran got fired in 3 years at his next gig, so it wasn't like we lost a great coach. He likely took the same act on the road and it was not well received. And NM was a job Fran said he really wanted, unlike the SJU job, which Fran never wanted. Yep he said that.

nypost.com

FRASCHILLA: I NEVER WANTED TO TAKE THE ST. JOHN’S JOB

ALBUQUERQUE – Never was Fran Fraschilla more crushed than that day in May of 1998 when he went to a meeting thinking he was getting a contract extension and instead got fired. Being the forme…
nypost.com nypost.com
 
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