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Dave Telep 11y

Harvard caps class with familiar name

Harvard capped its 2013 recruiting class with a familiar name on Tuesday when Matt Fraschilla (Dallas/Highland Park) formalized plans to play for Tommy Amaker next season. Fraschilla is the son of current ESPN analyst and former college coach Fran Fraschilla.

The 5-foot-10 senior point guard averaged 7.9 assists per game last season, ranking him second in the Dallas area. He knows going into next fall he’ll be a point guard tasked with providing depth and finding scorers for the Crimson.

“I’m really grateful for the opportunity,” Fraschilla said. “I started every game in high school. This will be kind of different, being a role player, so I just want to make everybody on the team better.”

The son of a coach, Fraschilla has attended numerous Harvard camps and over time forged a relationship with Amaker and his staff. Had Fraschilla not accepted the offer to play at Harvard, he would have been a Texas Longhorn as a walk-on for Rick Barnes.

Instead, Fraschilla will heed the advice of father and head to the Ivy League.

“I credit him a lot because he’s been the driving force with basketball,” Fraschilla said of his father. “I always remember him saying that the days you aren’t out there then there’s somebody else out there. It makes you want to get out and put up shots and always be doing something to get better.”

The rest of Harvard’s three-man 2013 recruiting class is slanted toward reconstructing its frontcourt firepower. Next season Amaker will unleash two big men who are exponentially different from each other.

Power forward Hunter Myers (Minden, Nev./Douglas) is a cerebral and skilled player; a strong perimeter stroke and sneaky athleticism are the anchors of his game. Meanwhile, big man Zena Edosomwan (North Hollywood, Calif./Northfield Mount Hermon) is a dunking machine; he’s the type who carves out his area and takes ownership of the paint. Edosomwan’s strength and explosion near the rim will be a problem for even the most athletic Ivy League defenders.

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