Thea Frey admits she doesn’t know much about the world of basketball, but she’s learning fast.
She’s learning that her son, Kevin, one of the top high school players in Illinois, is a public figure, whether she likes it or not.
She’s also learning that the resulting publicity can be a two-edged sword.
She learned all this last month when Kevin, who had attended Mt. Carmel for three years, enrolled at Maine West. In a classic case of guilt by association, some media reports painted the move as just another basketball-inspired transfer.
Basketball transferring has gotten a bad name in recent years, and with good reason. Dozens of players have switched schools, sometimes two or even three times, in a misguided quest for more playing time, more publicity, more recruiting letters and the like.
Thea Frey says Kevin’s transfer had nothing to do with basketball and that it was wrong for it to be portrayed otherwise.
“It’s really unfair to a student-athlete when the media jumps to conclusions, and some jumped to conclusions with Kevin,” she said Tuesday as she watched her 17-year-old son inhale a postworkout sandwich in their Des Plaines apartment. “They lumped him in with the others.
“Those articles assumed it was all about basketball.”
It wasn’t. Kevin, whose parents are divorced, transferred for what he and his mom describe as “personal family reasons.”
He had been living with his father in south suburban Lansing but moved in with Thea last month after she got a job transfer from Michigan to northwest suburban Schaumburg.
Thea Frey said she investigated high schools within a relatively short drive of her job. Maine West checked out academically and athletically, and it had an extra edge because Kevin had gotten to know West star Lucas Johnson in July when the two played on the same team in an Amateur Athletic Union tournament in Orlando.
Thea, who was there, also got to know Johnson’s parents.
“I wanted to go somewhere where I at least knew someone,” said Kevin, a 6-foot-7-inch, 225-pound forward.
His choice backs up his claim he’s not just another prep free agent. While Maine West has a solid program, it has never won a sectional title and has not been a popular stop on the transfer highway.
“That’s why my reaction was, `This is too good to be true,’ ” said West coach Jim Sullivan, describing his feelings after getting an exploratory phone call from Thea Frey. ” `Is this possible a player of this caliber will walk onto this campus?’ “
Mt. Carmel coach Mike Curta hated to lose Kevin but says he understands the reasons for the transfer and continues to speak with Frey periodically.
“I’m not upset at all,” he said. “It was a personal decision for them.”
Kevin says it was hard to change schools for his senior year and that he misses his old coach and teammates.
“This had nothing to do with Mt. Carmel,” he said. “Coach Curta has been a big part of my success.
“I’ll miss the guys. I’ll try to watch a couple of their games. They’re still my boys.”
Now he’s getting used to the boys at his new school–and the girls, something lacking at all-male Mt. Carmel.
“At first, it was hard to keep my attention,” he said, smiling. “Now it’s kind of like, `Yeah, the girls are here, but I’m here for business, to hit the books.’ “
It’s serious business. Frey is taking seven courses this semester to make sure he fulfills the course requirements to be eligible as a college freshman. He has already met the ACT requirement.
Playing basketball and choosing a college will gobble up what time he has left. He has been working out daily with Johnson at a local YMCA and will be playing with Maine West in a fall league.
Frey has been a Division I college prospect since his sophomore year, but his stock rose sharply in July after he starred in Orlando and at the Nike All-American Camp in Indianapolis.
When he returned home, he started getting calls from some of the top programs in the country, including Cincinnati, Nevada-Las Vegas and Syracuse.
This month, coaches from Cincinnati, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Xavier have dropped by his living room, and UNLV is expected any day.
Frey says he will sign a letter of intent, probably with one of those six schools, in November if he’s sure of his decision. Otherwise he’ll wait until April.
His main goal, other than getting his academics in order, is helping Maine West to its best basketball season ever. The addition of Frey to the 6-6 Johnson and 6-7, 260-pound Division I football recruit Andy Lightfoot ensures West won’t be lacking for height or bulk.
Despite his reputation, Frey says he just wants to fit in and play his role at his new address.
“The hardest part is learning a new style of play and new players,” he said. “I don’t want to make anyone mad.”
One suspects that long faces will be in short supply at Maine West.
“The support there has been overwhelming,” Thea Frey said. “It has been a nice balance of academics and sports, a real team atmosphere.”
———-
Send e-mail to Barry Temkin at BarTem@aol.com
