Dave Boling: From Gonzaga legend to EWU volunteer assistant, Richie Frahm eager to see if coaching shoe fits
Here’s how long Richie Frahm had been away from basketball:
When he heard he would be added as a volunteer coach at Eastern Washington, he started gathering up his gear, only to discover he had no basketball shoes.
He had business shoes (as a real estate broker would), and cycling shoes (which he has worn in intervening years as a competitive cyclist).
But basketball shoes? Nowhere to be found.
Once he got sufficiently kitted and showed up with the EWU Eagles at their summer conditioning workouts, it was as if the shoes had carried him back in time.
“As soon as I hit the court with those guys, it really sparked that fire – relating to the fight and battle they had coming this year,” Frahm said.
Equally transporting for Frahm were the gravelly shouts of new Eagles coach Dan Monson, who coached Frahm and a team of intrepid Gonzaga pioneers at the dawn of the Zags’ emergence as a nationally recognized powerhouse.
The contemporary Eagles would have no perspective on the scant success the Zags had achieved by the time Monson took over as head coach in 1997, but the 47-year-old Frahm is around to tell them what it took to make the steep climb to the big time.
“I saw the opportunity for him to come back here and do something special, like he did at Gonzaga,” Frahm said. “This Eastern opportunity with ‘Mons’ sparks that same kind of competitiveness in me.”
The Eagles are 7-16 and 3-7 in the Big Sky Conference heading into Thursday’s 6 p.m. home game against Sacramento State.
As a volunteer, Frahm can’t coach on the floor during practices or games. So, a lot of his coaching is directed at Monson, sometimes reminding him of what worked back in the 20th century. But he’s also a liaison to the players, and an occasional translator of Monson’s messages and defender of his methods.
“One thing I learned, when you take over a new job, the No. 1 thing you need is loyalty, and he’s one of the most loyal kids I ever coached,” Monson said. “I told him he can’t be on the floor, but he could be another set of eyes, and that can make a big difference. He’s actually been way more than that, such an ear for these players to talk to, who understands my sarcasm. He understands that if I get on a kid, it’s not picking on him, it’s because I believe in him.”
To modern college basketball players, Gonzaga “is the gold standard,” Monson said. “Richie being a success at Gonzaga and in the NBA gives him such instant credibility. And he puts a smile on my face because of all the great memories I had coaching him.”
Frahm was a deep perimeter threat who also was never shy at getting on the floor for a loose ball or swapping elbows in the lane. But it was his silky jumper that could most influence games, as he netted 42% of his career shots from beyond the arc.
He scored 26 points in the Zags’ first NCAA Tournament win, upsetting Minnesota in the 1999 first round. In seven NCAA Tournament games in 1999 and 2000, Frahm averaged 17.1 points.
After several near misses in the NBA, he hooked on with the Seattle SuperSonics in 2003, backing up Ray Allen and Brent Barry at shooting guard. At Denver one December night that season, he missed his first shot and then hit his next 10, including six 3-pointers for a career-high 31 points.
He ended up playing 140 NBA games over four seasons, mostly with Seattle and Portland, and continued playing in leagues around the world for another several years.
Monson covered ground, too, after turning over the GU program to Mark Few after the Zags’ Elite Eight run in 1999, spending eight seasons at Minnesota and 17 more at Long Beach State.
He was dismissed before leading LBS to the NCAAs last spring. When Washington State hired EWU coach David Riley, Monson was brought back to Cheney (where his father, Don, coached Cheney High near the start of his storied coaching career).
“I saw he had that kind of underdog situation (at EWU) that he had at Gonzaga,” Frahm said. “That underdog fight was always part of the (GU) legacy. If I can voice that in any way to the (Eagle) players: Trust the process and stay disciplined, then good things will come.”
Frahm bragged that the EWU team has a “phenomenal” collective grade-point average of 3.4. “You see the type of guys that are here now, and they’re battling every game, and getting close every game.”
Frahm has told the EWU players stories about Monson’s first season as head coach at GU, when he was so fiercely demanding. He had the Zags absolutely tuned up for the start of the season as they headed to Fairbanks, Alaska, for a tournament against high-profile opposition.
“That first game (against Tulsa), we came in at halftime and we were up 34-10,” Frahm remembered of the lopsided win. They went on to edge an extremely athletic Mississippi State in the second game, and bashed No. 5-ranked Clemson 84-71 for the tournament title.”
Suddenly, Monson’s tough tactics made sense to Frahm and the Bulldogs, and the trajectory for the program’s future was dramatically adjusted.
“He definitely got the fire lit, and we all bought in,” Frahm said. “I still see that fire in him. He still has the fight. He puts so much energy out there every day. It’s been fun to watch.”
Monson said that sometimes, after practices, Frahm dusts off his jumper.
“He wins his share of HORSE games after practice, just to let them know,” Monson said.
The logical question to Frahm is whether this taste of volunteer coaching makes him want to dive in full time.
“I think that itch is there,” he said. “I’m 47 years old, but it’s never too late to go after something. When the fire is there, age doesn’t matter.”
Monson concedes that Frahm’s late start in the profession is unusual. “(But) he’s got passion and he loves basketball. This is giving back to a sport that gave so much to him,” Monson said. “He puts his heart and soul into everything he does.”
It took Frahm until age 26 to stick in the NBA, so he’s not afraid of being patient with something that’s meaningful to him.
Might as well, now that he has the shoes for it.