CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK / SCOTT MILLER : Frigout’s Basketball Skills Do Not Get Lost In the Translation

It was shortly after David Frigout said bon jour to Cal State Fullerton in August that he learned to say “Damn!” on the basketball court.

Well, what did you expect? That his new American teammates would teach him the poetry of Emily Dickinson?

Yes, basketball is a universal language, even when you play for a club team in France and transfer to Fullerton from Groupe Pigier University in Evreux, France, without ever having been in the United States.

“Sometimes I misunderstand something, but it’s OK,” said Frigout, who has a quick smile and an easy manner. “They take the time to explain it to me. Sometimes I say ‘Yeah’ when maybe I should say ‘No.’

“The first word I learned was ‘Damn!’ Now, when I miss something, I say, ‘Damn!’

It’s an adjustment all the way around. Frigout, 6 feet 9, hooked up with Titan Coach Brad Holland through a mutual friend last summer. Holland was looking for players and Frigout (pronounced Frih-GOO) wanted to play where they take basketball seriously.

“American players are the best in the world,” Frigout said. “It’s a great experience. And I can learn to speak English as well.

“A lot of things happen for me if I come here. First for basketball and second for the learning experience.”

And it certainly has been an eye-opening few months.

“The food is different,” Frigout said. “I eat a lot of hamburgers here. I never ate so many hamburgers.

“I miss French food. I eat so much fast food. I didn’t do that in France all year. Here, hamburgers, damn , I like it, but not all the time. I like to take the time to eat at a table, an entree, with a plate.”

If there’s one thing Frigout has learned, it’s that he isn’t exactly in a steak-and-lobster program, like his friend and teammate last year, Olivier Saint Jean, who is playing with Michigan.

“I tried to make contact with him but I can’t,” Frigout said. “I would like to know if he’s playing. I tried to find out, but I don’t have a TV. I have tried to read the newspaper.”

So Frigout eats his hamburgers and concentrates on his game. He has played in every Titan game and started one, last Thursday at Colorado State. Through Tuesday night’s game against Northern Iowa, he was averaging 4.4 points and 4.1 rebounds.

“The biggest difference (between France and Fullerton) is the conditioning,” Frigout said. “Everything. All of it. When I arrive here, conditioning was very hard. The first week was very, very hard for me. I just have to work.”

Off the court, Frigout lives in an on-campus dormitory and finds that California life is unlike anything he has ever experienced.

“It’s very different than in France,” he said. “If you don’t have a car, you can’t do a lot of things. You have to stay in your house. In France, if you don’t have a car, you can walk.”

Still, his social life hasn’t been all fast food and French-to-English dictionaries. He has learned one thing that can help a guy get through a strange college in a strange land.

“The girls, they like French people,” he said, smiling widely. “They like the accent.”

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Add Frigout: It seems he is having an easier time learning English than his teammates are learning French.

“They know bon jour --hello,” Frigout said, laughing. “They try to speak French, but it’s a very, very bad accent. They say things to me and I try to understand, but it’s too hard.”

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Cast off: All-American outfielder Dante Powell is expected to have the cast removed from his right hand this week and will be at full strength for the opening of baseball practice Jan. 6.

“He’s in good shape,” Titan Coach Augie Garrido said. “He’s got almost full use of his hand even with his cast on. It turned out to be a minor injury.”

Powell, who batted .335 last year with 12 home runs, 57 RBIs and a team-leading 42 stolen bases, broke a bone on the outside of his little finger last month while breaking up a fight at a Rams game.

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Good news: It looks like the baseball team won’t have to build any arks this season to stay afloat. The drainage problem at Titan Field was fixed during the fall and, after a weekend rain, Garrido said the field was completely dry on Monday.

The only problem is that the heavy equipment used to install the drainage system hardened the infield.

“It’s playable now, but we have plans to refurbish it,” Garrido said. “It will be at triple-A or major league standards by the time we start.”

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Football watch: With money set aside to hire a football coach Jan. 1, the Titans have not even posted the job, let alone begun interviewing anybody. It’s just another sign that President Milton Gordon, who said he wants to evaluate the state budget situation in mid-January before making any decisions, does not intend to bring the sport back next fall.

Titan Notes

The American College Baseball Coaches’ Assn. will hold its annual convention in Anaheim from Jan. 7-9, finishing with a clinic at Cal State Fullerton on Sunday, Jan. 9. More than 2,000 amateur baseball coaches--including high school, college and international coaches--are expected to be on hand. . . . The annual Titan alumni baseball game is scheduled for Jan. 16 at 1 p.m. at Titan Field. Fullerton opens its 1994 season with a three-game series at Stanford beginning Jan. 28. The home opener is against UC Riverside Feb. 1 at 2:30 p.m. . . . The women’s basketball team is off until Monday, when the Titans play at UC Santa Barbara.