Fran Fraschilla Interview

Akron (OH) - At the Lebron James Skills Academy we sat down with camp instructor Fran Fraschilla to discuss player development and coaching the top players in the country in this type of setting. After enjoying a successful college basketball coaching career he is currently an ESPN basketball analyst. Fran brings a unique perspective to player development covering European prospects for ESPN's NBA Draft coverage.

NBADraft.net: How is the camp going so far?

Fran Fraschilla (left) Fran Fraschilla: Well, it is an excellent concept and when you have this many good young players from around the country it is fun to work with them. But getting them to realize although they are the best player in their city or state, there is a lot they can keep working on and improving. So that is the challenge. However, the attitude has always been very good at the Nike Skills Camps.

NBADraft.net: What do you enjoy most about coaching at a camp like this?

FF: You get to see the college counselors and high school players develop right before your very eyes. It's fun for me, an ex-coach now broadcaster, to coach these high school players then watch them and talk about them for the next 3 to 4 years. Last year was a great example. In the college counselor section the point guards I coached you had Johnny Flyn, Steph Curry, Patrick Beverly, Kalin Lucas and Jack McClinton. It was a bevy of point guard talent. It was fun to watch them work against each other, then have success during the college season.

NBADraft.net: Do you coach or help as an instructor at any camps in Europe?

FF: I work at the Reebok Eurocamp to get ready for the NBA Draft. It is a very valuable experience and this [Nike Skills Academy's] is sort of the equivalent to that. Here we are working with a lot of really good players and a lot of them have been really well coached already. But a lot of them still need work on the fundamentals of the game. So while they may be great athletes there is still areas of their skill development they really need to improve and if they improve them a really good high school player can become a great one. Then when they go onto college the adjustment is easier as they have coaches like at this camp actually pushing them to go harder. This is important for them to understand since they will not be babied when they are in college.

NBADraft.net: If you could make a change to the developmental system in the U.S. when compared to the European development system what would it be?

FF: This is a sore subject for me but what Nike is doing is a start but it's a shame we can't coach these kids for three weeks or three months. What we are missing here in the U.S. is the skill development at this age is much more serious [in Europe]. Their percentage of time of skill development to games would be 70% skill development and 30% games. Here in the States it seems like it is 30% skills and 70% games. Both systems could probably learn from each other but I wish we had more time in America to develop a players basic skills. Just the simple aspects of the game that used to be very common is not anymore. High I.Q. players at the high school level are not as common anymore. We develop some of them in college and on into the NBA but they do not come to college as well coached as they use to.

NBADraft.net: What high school players have you been around here are the most impressive?

FF: It is hard for me to say at this particular camp since I work with one group [point guards]. Certainly a guy who impressed me at the Paul Pierce camp was Harrison Barnes. He is an example of a very athletic player but very fundamentally sound. He can play multiple positions, is multi-skilled and has the athletic ability to run the floor and rebound. He [Barnes] would be the model of what we are trying to develop as a high school player in this class. He [Barnes] has a lot of what we have seen in recent years from the great high school players in terms of being fundamentally sound in all aspects of his game. He is very much like Kevin Durant or Mayo, he is not just an athlete but skilled.

NBADraft.net: The college counselors here you have been able to watch on TV all year. But now that you are coaching them has any of them really stood out in your mind because you did know much about their game before this?

FF: They are all impressive in their own way or they would not be here but a guy like Patrick Christopher who has been part of the Nike Skills Academy, has been at camps the past few years gets better and better every year. {NBAdraft.net: We noticed the consistency in his jump shot during drills that day.} His jump shot was not one of his strengths a few years ago. Now that is a guy (Christopher) that has continued to improve every year.

Larry Sanders is an excellent shot blocker and a guy that comes to a camp like this, 15-20 pounds from now and with a little more experience develops into a better player than he already is.

Manny Harris at the Paul Pierce camp was very good. He has a very compact game that does not waste a lot of energy. He can shoot the ball obviously and that is a strength but has the quickness to get by you [opposing players].

What I like most about the college counselors is that they are all highly regarded by ESPN and the rest of the media. They come to a camp like this, check their egos at the door and they allow you to coach them. That is probably the greatest thing about the group of counselors every year is that they allow you to coach them.

NBADraft.net: What do you think the benefits are for the college players to come to a camp like this compared to playing USA Basketball overseas?