近距离内射合集

Fran Fraschilla is looking forward to Indianapolis this week.

Aside from the hoops junkie getting to do what he loves, he also gets to see an old friend.

A rather close, old friend.

As Fraschilla prepares to cover this week鈥檚 National Invitation Tournament semifinals and championship game, as he鈥檚 done for several years as a broadcaster for ESPN, the former head coach admits there鈥檚 a special place in his heart for one of the NIT semifinal teams.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like seeing an old girlfriend that you really liked,鈥� Fraschilla joked in a phone conversation with the Journal on Monday. 鈥淵ou broke up, and you know why you broke up, but you still have a lot of good memories, you know?鈥�

Fraschilla is, of course, referring to the UNM Lobos, a team he used to coach and one this year that is looking for its first-ever NIT championship. The Lobos will play Tulsa at 5 p.m. Thursday, followed by Auburn vs. Illinois State in the other semifinal. The winners play for the title at 6 p.m. Sunday. All games will be on ESPN.

Monday, Fraschilla spent the day cramming for information on all four NIT semifinalists 鈥� a day that included a brief stroll down memory lane.

Fraschilla was an up-and-coming coach in Albuquerque for three years, starting with the 1999-2000 season that ushered in a new college basketball conference called the Mountain West. It鈥檚 a time Fraschilla thinks about as the right place (UNM hoops, after all, has proven to be a great program off and on over the past six decades), but probably not the right time.

鈥淚 was probably not the best fit at the time to replace Dave Bliss (left for the Baylor job after the 1998-99 season) and all the nonsense that went on 鈥� and, yeah, there was some nonsense, but that鈥檚 in the past," Fraschilla said on Monday. 鈥淏ut, yes. There鈥檚 still a soft spot for all my New Mexico friends, because every New Mexico friend I still have also still loves the Lobos. That's for sure.鈥�

Fraschilla initially thought some time in TV broadcasting would be a good for him 鈥� a bridge, if you will, between that tumultuous ending of the 2002 season (an improbable January home loss to Gonzaga is now a quarter-century later remembered as the turning point of the Fraschilla era) and his next coaching job.

He was, after all, definitely going to coach again, but just needed a year or so between jobs and broadcasting gave him a chance to stay close to the game.

But a funny thing happened on the way from that March 13, 2002, final game Fraschilla coached at UNM 鈥� ironically an NIT loss to Minnesota 鈥� and the next coaching gig.

鈥淚 really, really enjoyed what I was doing,鈥� Fraschilla said of broadcasting.

And while waiting for the right coaching opportunity, he kept getting better at this broadcasting thing. And better. And better.

He even has a book coming out in the fall 鈥� 鈥淒on鈥檛 mess with happy,鈥� a phrase used by many through the years but interestingly enough has become one Lobo fans seem to associate with Steve Alford, a Lobos coach who uttered that phrase a few months before leaving for the UCLA job.

Fraschilla鈥檚 book explores his journey in which he found happiness away from coaching, and in broadcasting 鈥� a job that lets him still run into that old girlfriend every so often and reminisce not about a bitter breakup but about a genuinely fun time.

While he doesn't know the current Lobos coach Eric Olen well, Fraschilla said he鈥檚 blown away by what he's seen on film and admires the roster Olen built with players like under-recruited Jake Hall, Uriah Tenette, and international import Tomislav Buljan. Fraschilla, also a lead analyst for international basketball coverage, attended one of Buljan鈥檚 games in Split, Croatia, before he came to the 近距离内射合集 States.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to see this team,鈥� Fraschilla said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know Coach Olen, but I鈥檓 anxious to say hi to him and cover the Lobos like they鈥檙e Kansas or Texas Tech (or another Big 12 team, the conference he has been assigned to cover for ESPN for most of his time with the network).鈥�

AD the keynote speaker

UNM鈥檚 new athletic director, Ryan Berryman, has been invited to be the keynote speaker at Friday鈥檚 Latino Association of Basketball Coaches annual Final Four luncheon in Indianapolis 鈥� an event he'd have to potentially bypass if not for this year鈥檚 unique setup putting the NIT semifinals and championship in the same city as the NCAA Tournament's Final Four.

The LABC is 鈥渁 national nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting, developing, and advancing Latino basketball coaches and basketball professionals at every level of the game.鈥�

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) .