No matter how many George Masons or Davidsons come around, there will never be another Cinderella story like the 1990 Loyola Marymount squad. In the middle of its West Coast Conference Tournament game just two weeks prior to the Big Dance, star player Hank Gathers collapsed on the court and died of a heart disorder (as regular season champions, they were awarded the automatic bid).

Shocked and devastated, no one knew what to expect when No. 11 seed LMU took the floor again. Certainly no one could have predicted what happened next. Powered by Paul Westhead’s high-flying offense, LMU scorched the nets all the way to the Elite Eight.

The entire nation rooted them on during a 145-115 second round demolition of defending national champion Michigan, watching in awe as guard Jeff Fryer hit an NCAA Tournament record 11 3-pointers en route to 41 points. The run finally came to an end against eventual national champion UNLV, but Marymount’s magic is still felt today.

We caught up with the sharp-shooting Fryer recently to talk about his own personal basketball academy he now runs, his memories of that rollercoaster ride and Bo Kimble’s famous left-handed free-throws.

Lost Lettermen: Tell us more about the Jeff Fryer Basketball Academy.

Jeff Fryer: Yeah, I give private lessons. I coach junior high, high school and college kids and run clinics and the run camps in the summer and winter.

LL: We also hear you’re an agent for players overseas? How did you get into that?

JF:I played overseas in Germany for five years and made a lot of contacts over there and started putting guys with a buddy of mine over there, so I’ve been doing that for the past six years.

Either (the player) comes to me or I come to them. I know a lot of coaches in the area in California and all over the country, so I talk to a lot of the coaches and get their input about any guys they have that are looking to play overseas, and go from there.

LL: How many clients do you have?

JF: Right now I have 12 clients and over the past 6 years probably close to like 60 guys.

LL: Marymount hasn’t made it back to the NCAA Tournament since you left and has been dreadful in recent years. How do they turn it around?

JF: Yeah, I don’t know. That’s a tough situation for any coach or team. They just haven’t really put it together the last 19 years.

LL: Do you ever go to games since you still live in L.A.?

JF: Yeah, I go to a few games every year and I keep in touch with the guys. I’m going out to the West Coast Conference Tournament in two weeks to accept an award for Hank Gathers. They’re doing something called the Hall of Honor for the West Coast Conference and they’re starting it this year and they’re honoring Hank.

LL: What is it?

JF: It’s the first year they’re doing it. It’s just something where they induct one player from every school each year, like (Pepperdine’s) Doug Christie is going in and Hank Gathers, and different guys from each school.

LL: What do you remember from the 1990 team?

JF: Just that it was a tough time for all of us. I learned a lot about life and death after it happened and it shook my faith at times. It was just a confusing time because we were morning a death then celebrating victories so it was kind of confusing. It was just a blur. It’s hard to know what to feel.

LL: Your team set an NCAA record by averaging a ridiculous 122.4 PPG. How much fun was it to play for Paul Westhead?

JF: I was just blessed to be on those teams because I really wasn’t an athletic player, but I could shoot the ball. Just playing, I drove my niche on that team and playing with the guys, we built a lot of camaraderie and we were able to rally. So that was a fun part, being able to rally the guys.

LL: Eleven 3-pointers in one game: How do you explain that?

JF: I just had some good point guards that got me the ball, so it was just a matter of time. I got a lot of open shots that game and the point guards were really feeding me well so I just kind of played H-O-R-S-E. Although there was a lot of pressure, yeah I was in the zone and players get that way. And fortunately for us, it was that game for me.

LL: Do you ever speak with Hank’s family?

JF: I actually talked to his brother yesterday just to get his blessing on and I called his mom a week ago as well. I keep in touch with them. And his brother was telling me how they started a foundation called the Gather Around foundation for Hank and they want to build a recreation complex and other things to go with it. So that was kind of neat and I’ll say something about that next Saturday.

LL: You’re a Southern California kid while Hank and Bo were from Philadelphia. With almost nothing in common, how were you such good friends?

JF: Well we played four years together. They redshirted the one year I was a freshman so we got know each other and become captains our senior year. And so just built a friendship up over those four years and even though we were from different (backgrounds), we had one thing in common, and that was playing basketball and playing for coach Westhead. I think we were able to form a friendship and a bond, especially going to battle together on the court.

LL: You had the entire country rooting for you and you were even showing up on Arsenio Hall. What was it like being rock stars?

JF: Well L.A. is a media capital of the world and the school is in L.A., so we got a lot of attention that way. And by the style we played and the players we had and the situation with Hank’s death, we got a lot of attention. So that’s probably why.

LL: Bo Kimble shot the first free-throw of every game to honor Hank. Did you know beforehand he was going to do that?

JF: No, he didn’t talk about it. I didn’t even realize he was going to do it, I don’t think. It’s pretty amazing how he made all three of them in all three of the games, so I was just kind of amazed by that and how it all came together.

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