The State of the Program is a series of short reports generated by fans and media close to the BYU men’s basketball program. These reports provide educated opinions about the current state of the basketball team and speculation about the future of the program. If you are interested in contributing to this series please contact us at: webmaster@byuinsider.com.
Hot grad transfer prospect: Konner Frey looks interesting. Late growth spurt, late to basketball, converted football QB by James Vincent
Didn’t know a thing about him a week ago but his story is very much correlated to guys who come out of nowhere and emerge as top players. As a late bloomer in both physical maturity and basketball experience, Frey’s learning curve is necessarily much steeper than most.
“There’s a player that has graduated from UVU that is looking at transferring, their star player SF, Konner Frey” @criddler21
— ESPN960Sports (@espn960sports) April 26, 2016
Briefly, spinal stenosis ended his football dreams before high school. He then tried basketball as a 6′ 0″ sophomore and got cut at Viewmont High in Bountiful. Thereafter, he took up tennis, then dabbled at the high jump and quickly became proficient enough to compete at the State Championships. He grew to 6’4″ and made the HS basketball team as a junior, improved enough to make all-State as a senior, went to a JC in Wyoming, then served a mission, walked on at USU upon his return, before improving enough to become a competent 6’6″ D-1 wing at UVU. No reshirt is required for transferring walk-ons or grads, i assume.
I love his story! He could turn out to be a force. Good health permitting, he almost certainly has not peaked. Here is an encouraging quote from UVU Coach Mark Pope in late February:
“It’s impossible to overestimate Konner’s contribution to our team this season,” Utah Valley head coach Mark Pope said. “He’s not only been a great scorer, rebounder and defender, but also a tremendous leader on and off the floor. Konner gives us great energy. He joined our team right at the beginning of this season and has grown his game and he’s playing great basketball right now.
Hope it works out with BYU. See KSL’s breaking story at: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=37673323&nid=1284
This opinion piece was written by James Vincent (Roseyscenario) and is cross-posted in CougarBoard.
