Brooklyn-Born Fran Fraschilla Instant Hit With New Mexio Fans

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —  Fran Fraschilla rarely eats lunch alone anymore and his trips to the grocery store or mall usually end up being a mixture of shopping and shop talk.

For New Mexico basketball fans, there’s no such thing as an offseason, and the new coach of the Lobos knew it when he took the job 2 1/2 months ago.

“I haven’t coached a game yet and I haven’t gone through a two-game losing streak, but everything has gone according to plan,” Fraschilla said.

The Brooklyn-born basketball junkie has become an instant celebrity in a city and state where the Lobos’ coach often is more recognizable than the governor.

“I try to sneak off at lunch with my newspapers and invariably somebody will recognize me and want to talk about the team,” Fraschilla said. “I think that’s great. I wanted this kind of passion. I wanted to be in an environment where people love their team.”

They love the Lobos but not always the coach.

Fraschilla’s predecessor, Dave Bliss, led New Mexico to the NCAA tournament seven times in the ‘90s, but was criticized when the Lobos failed each of the last four seasons to get past the second round.

After 11 seasons, Bliss left the Lobos and The Pit, the team’s home court where rabid fans are so close to the action they rattle visiting teams. He’s now at more tranquil Baylor, leaving a program that averaged 25 wins a season the last four years for one that won six games last year and went 0-16 in the Big 12 Conference.

Enter Fraschilla, a high-energy, talkaholic who promised to take New Mexico to the Final Four.

“I don’t mind using the term Final Four around here,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy. We’ve got a heck of a long way to go ... but when you put 18,000 people in The Pit every night, that energy level is going to rub off on your team.”

Fraschilla’s resume isn’t long, but it is impressive. His first head coaching job was at Manhattan, where in four seasons the Jaspers were 85-35 and went to the NCAA tournament twice.

He then coached at St. John’s for two seasons, leading that school to the NCAA tournament in 1998. He was ousted at the end of that season after he became interested in the then-vacant coaching job at Arizona State, he says.

St. John’s athletic director Edward Manetta Jr. said the decision involved fundamental differences over the basketball program.

Some of those who have worked alongside Fraschilla say New Mexico has landed one of the game’s best coaches and recruiters.

“Extremely high energy and extremely well organized. Perhaps the most organized coach I’ve met in the profession,” said Clemson coach Larry Shyatt, who worked with Fraschilla when both were assistants at Providence.

Kentucky athletic director C.M. Newton encouraged Fraschilla to go after the New Mexico job.

“I think it’s a wonderful hire for New Mexico,” Newton said. “Fran is a breath of fresh air. He’s been that in every program he’s been in.”

It didn’t take Fraschilla long to win over the Lobos. Senior guard Lamont Long had considered leaving early to make himself eligible for the NBA draft this month, but changed his mind after meeting Fraschilla. And junior Kevin Henry, initially upset by Bliss’ departure, is now a Fran fan.

“When he tells us we’re going to the Final Four, we end up believing it,” Henry said. “He has a knack for getting our attention.”

What he’s gotten, Fraschilla says, is the coaching job he’s always craved, in a part of the country he loves.

“My first reaction was ‘Great basketball program, great tradition, great facility, nice city.’ It was a no-brainer,” he said.

“I had decided I wanted some things that were more important to my family than just coaching in Madison Square Garden.”

Fraschilla and his wife, Meg, honeymooned in Colorado and have vacationed in that state just about every summer in recent years with their two sons, Matthew, 3, and James, 6.

“I felt my boys could grow up in an environment like this and do a lot of things they wouldn’t be able to do in a big city, he said. “And I can’t think of a better place in the country that fits my personality and energy. My passion for basketball fits in with the community’s passion.”