Bobby Frasor steps down as coach at Brother Rice

By Jeff Vorva
Staff Writer

The wins.

The mosh pits.

The jokes.

These are just a few of the things that will be missed by Bobby Frasor, who stepped down last week as the basketball coach at Brother Rice and is leaving the world of hoops.

Frasor was a star player for the Crusaders who returned to his alma mater to lead the basketball program for the past seven seasons.

He has been around basketball just about all of his life. He picked up a love for the game from his father, Bob, a longtime coach at Eisenhower. After a successful career at North Carolina, Bobby coached on the college level and left basketball in 2014 to work in the business world before returning to Rice at its coach in 2015.

He was not specific on what his future plans are, but said he is leaving for a job in the corporate world.

“A couple of connections I made over the years presented an opportunity and I just had to make this move,” he said.

The Catholic League figures to be a powerhouse in 2022-23. St. Rita has stacked its roster with transfers, Leo is an elite Class 2A team and Mount Carmel is returning strong talent from last year’s squad.

Brother Rice figures to be right in the middle of that mix.

Ahmad Henderson, who played on varsity his sophomore and junior seasons, is picking up Division I interest. Junior Cale Cosme has been getting attention for his play this summer for his 3-point shooting and defense, and Jimmy Navarrete was called a “super duper college sleeper” by scout Scott Burgess.

“It would have probably been the most talented team I have coached at Brother Rice,” Frasor said. “But this is something that has been brewing inside me and what’s best long-term.”

Frasor replaced Rick Harrigan, who led the Crusaders for two years after replacing coaching legend Pat Richardson after the 2012 season. Frasor started his tenure in 2015 and within his first three seasons collected a pair of regional titles, the first for the program since 2007-2008. He also netted two Catholic League titles.

He finished his tenure with a 143-56 record and many memories.

“My favorite memories over the years will be our big wins, whether it’s beating Marist, winning a regional championship or beating a Catholic League rival,” he said. “We would have mosh-pit celebrations in the locker room and jumping up and down with the guys and celebrating. It’s hard to replicate some of that camaraderie or passion after victories.

“I’ll miss the practices and the jokes. I’ve gotten a lot of texts from former players about certain things I said that I don’t even remember what I said. They still remember it to this day. It could be a funny line. All of that stuff is probably what I’ll miss the most.”

Earlier in the year, the outgoing coach was inducted into the Chicago Catholic League Hall of Fame.

During his playing days, he spent three years on the Crusaders varsity and was named CCL Player of the Year for 2004-2005. McDonald’s and EA Sports named him to their All-American teams.

He spent his college years at North Carolina, played in two Final Fours and won the NCAA Championship in 2009.