Eye on the Storm Podcast: Fran Fraschilla

SJUDave said:
I think so much of Fran's "shortcomings" or "mistakes" were due to ego and lack of big time experience and I think if you read between the lines of what he said he basically admits that. The fact that he apologized to so many players after the fact when he looked back on how he treated them insinuated so. He references the statute of limitations early on and I think in a humorous way time has allowed him to see his tenure in such a different light - as naturally it would as you get older and wiser and mature. (which directly opposes a lot of the articles that came out about his firing the few months and years after) I spoke to a lot of former players and people around the program about Fran before I spoke to Fran to get insight on that time. The stuff I was told is in the same vein as you're talking about. Ultimately it's great to hear how people grow and look back on the pivotal moments in their lives and how it shapes them and the people they touched in that time.

Mainly I was just really appreciative of the stories and open dialogue Fran and I had on air and off. He was incredibly generous with his time and information. I hope everyone listening was able to get that impression.
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On that note, I'd love for you to get Jarvis on your show and see if he has grown up at all and if he will acknowledge any of his own mistakes.
 
First, Dave, you did a great job, so professional, you're John Fanta in the making, maybe better.

Second, I have some insight on Fran, since my niece, (whom I am very close with), dated one of the best players on Fran's excellent Manhattan teams, that helped land him our job. (a) Fran did great things at Manhattan and was a tireless worker, recruiter and coach, but was also a Class-A asshole towards his players, the administration and others, many of whom were not sad to see him go. (Think Bobby Gonzalez-light). (b) Many of his players disliked his demanding, demeaning nature and yelling and screaming all the time. (c) HIs vulgarity caused friction with the good Fathers at Manhattan. (d) It made it clear from the very beginning that Manhattan was a stepping stone. He mentioned being from the tough playgrounds of Brooklyn, and growing up nearby to where he grew up in Brooklyn, I never heard of him, nor him being a playground toughie.

Third, keep in mind Dave was hearing one side of a multi faceted story. You have to take at least some of it with a grain of salt no matter how sincere it sounds. Politicians are not the only ones who "spin". I have no inside information but didn't he pull a very vulgar act telling his players they didn't have "these", pointing at something in the flesh. If so, Ed Manetta going along with his dismissal makes some sense, since Ed Manetta backed Fran even now in Fran's own words.

Last, we have a lot of could haves, would haves and should haves scenarios about, if Fran had stayed. No one knows for sure. His career arc after us wasn't meteoric. Fran leveraging us for more money by interviewing elsewhere (with no apparent interest in the other job) backfired. I have seen that in the corporate world and they do have security bring cardboard boxes and ask the person to leave immediately. As subsequent revelations showed us Harrington was no good and so him being a villain here is fine. My only connection to a SJU President is Father Cahill who taught my class Theology on the Staten Island campus and was a lovely man and a University President during some of our Looie Glory years and so I have a very fond recollection of him. No read on Harrington except what I read in the New York Times. A disaster.

Again, great interview, Dave, kudos.
 
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www.chron.com

Fraschilla leaves New Mexico post

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Fran Fraschilla resigned as New Mexico's basketball coach following a...
www.chron.com www.chron.com

bballwriters.com

Meet Fran Fraschilla: From Coach's Chair to Broadcast Booth - TBW

Sometimes, the path you’ve laid for your life takes an unexpected turn. And things are all the better for it. Fran Fraschilla has been a staple of ESPN’s basketball coverage at all levels for the past 18 years. But it all began as “life-long preparation” on the playgrounds in Brooklyn and then a...
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Alumni Hall said:
In Frans 3 years at NM, went to NIT all three years and they wanted NCAA bids. That and 9 players quit his program during that time.
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My cousin at (sdsu) played against Fran when he was at NM. They were coming off Dave Bliss and Kenny Thomas teams.Also, first few years of the Mountain West. Utah and Maj were the big team there.
 
Alumni Hall said:
In Frans 3 years at NM, went to NIT all three years and they wanted NCAA bids. That and 9 players quit his program during that time.
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He finished 3rd, 5th, and 6th in an 8 team conference successively. Doesn't appear to be an NCAA tourney at large resume, and considering the year they finished 3rd was 9-9 OOC, doesn’t necessarily look like an NIT lock. Having 9 players leave your school back then probably didn't win him any popularity contests.
 
Fran speaks about the playgrounds of Flatbush and how he was the shortest and whitest guy there. He's 5 years younger than me, but when he says, for example, the playground in Bklyn was Manhattan Beach and makes no mention of Foster Park in the heart of Flatbush he is so off-base it's funny. Foster Park, Coney Island and other playgrounds were the places to play not so much ritzy Manhattan Beach.

He also mentions West 4th St., which is great but it is not in Flatbush or Brooklyn. Given he didn't even play for Brooklyn College, I doubt he would have gotten a run at The Cage.

Maybe nitpicking a bit, but Fran has a way of spinning things to exaggerate his importance.
 
Alumni Hall said:
Be mindful that when Fran was here, Alumni Hall was still viewed as a multi purpose facility. We had the track team pole vaulting on the main court area before we came out, sprinters running the upstairs hallways as were the hurdlers, banging over hurdles on a concrete floor during basketball practice. Baseball and softball also used the main arena for winter fielding practice. Add into that the many times the hoops teams, both men and women, had to vacate Alumni Hall and become vagabonds multiple times a week and find a local gym to practice at because of scheduling conflicts with University open houses, winter commencement, Christmas shows, and whatever else Calendar Clearance could squeeze in there. Heck we could not even give visiting hoops teams a locker room to change or privacy when they arrived for their shoot around as our athletes still worked out upstairs, much to the anger of visiting team coaches who stuck it to us when we tried to practice at their campus.
We even had to clear out of our own locker room on several occasions as they needed our room for visiting teams when we went on the road. Not to mention the constant flooding of the facilities on the ground floor of Alumni after storms.
This drove our coaches nuts! Of course the grass was greener. No other Coaching staffs in the Big East had to put up with the malarkey placed on us!

This time period also corresponded with the times many other schools started planning on practice gyms. Fran always stated it was easier to recruit and hold practice with better player development at a major D1 football type school that did not have the facility problems that we encountered for years, and did not end till Jarvis made it clear to the administration how far we were falling behind our Big East brothers in that area. Then in Jarvis's final season did the 3rd Floor agree to building Taffner.
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Insane. Thank you for sharing this peak behind the curtain...even with how much has changed today, still the fact that a basketball only facility is a priority 30 years later is frustrating.
 
BrookJersey Redmen said:
First, Dave, you did a great job, so professional, you're John Fanta in the making, maybe better.

Again, great interview, Dave, kudos.
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HA. Thank you for the compliment, I love John, he's the hardest working guy out there and deserves all the success that's coming his way. I'm an old man compared to John, and don't plan to pursue this further (been there done that once I graduated from SJU) than the hobby it is now. (unless something crazy happens)

Thank you for listening, all of you - it means a lot
 
SJUDave said:
I've had a few people ask me to get Jarvis. I haven't reached out but perhaps something for the offseason for sure.
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His son “Deuce” is employed as a fundraiser at Fairfield U and follows Johnnies I know. If you decide to do off season pod w Senior he may be good initial contact. He is far less arrogant than his father.
 
BrookJersey Redmen said:
Third, keep in mind Dave was hearing one side of a multi faceted story. You have to take at least some of it with a grain of salt no matter how sincere it sounds. Politicians are not the only ones who "spin". I have no inside information but didn't he pull a very vulgar act telling his players they didn't have "these", pointing at something in the flesh. If so, Ed Manetta going along with his dismissal makes some sense, since Ed Manetta backed Fran even now in Fran's own words.

Last, we have a lot of could haves, would haves and should haves scenarios about, if Fran had stayed. No one knows for sure. His career arc after us wasn't meteoric. Fran leveraging us for more money by interviewing elsewhere (with no apparent interest in the other job) backfired. I have seen that in the corporate world and they do have security bring cardboard boxes and ask the person to leave immediately. As subsequent revelations showed us Harrington was no good and so him being a villain here is fine. My only connection to a SJU President is Father Cahill who taught my class Theology on the Staten Island campus and was a lovely man and a University President during some of our Looie Glory years and so I have a very fond recollection of him. No read on Harrington except what I read in the New York Times. A disaster.

Again, great interview, Dave, kudos.
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Trust me I take everything with a grain of salt, even though he was very open. He and I spoke off air for about a week leading up to the interview as well as before we hit record about a litany of things during his time. Some stuff simply isn't suitable for the interview and some stuff is best kept off the record. That goes for plenty of my conversations with school officials / players past and present leading up to my conversation with Fran
 
SJUDave said:
Trust me I take everything with a grain of salt, even though he was very open. He and I spoke off air for about a week leading up to the interview as well as before we hit record about a litany of things during his time. Some stuff simply isn't suitable for the interview and some stuff is best kept off the record. That goes for plenty of my conversations with school officials / players past and present leading up to my conversation with Fran
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It was well done
 
BrookJersey Redmen said:
Fran speaks about the playgrounds of Flatbush and how he was the shortest and whitest guy there. He's 5 years younger than me, but when he says, for example, the playground in Bklyn was Manhattan Beach and makes no mention of Foster Park in the heart of Flatbush he is so off-base it's funny. Foster Park, Coney Island and other playgrounds were the places to play not so much ritzy Manhattan Beach.

He also mentions West 4th St., which is great but it is not in Flatbush or Brooklyn. Given he didn't even play for Brooklyn College, I doubt he would have gotten a run at The Cage.

Maybe nitpicking a bit, but Fran has a way of spinning things to exaggerate his importance.
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Manhattan Beach had some good ball players great mix of folks. I remember seeing good games there as a kid in early 90s, when I lived in Sheepshead. I want to say I saw Jack Ryan play there as a kid and W4th when I was in my early 20s. Steph’s brothers were solid ball players on the Coney Island courts. Grady around 2000 was solid PSAL school. Not liking your tone 😂
 
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