FOUR TOPS

By J.A. ADANDE

March 31, 2001 12 AM PT

MINNEAPOLIS —

The headline uses an unfortunate metaphor, when you think about it.

The story in the Dec. 13 edition of the Tucson Citizen describes Arizona guard Lamont Frazier’s attempts to win more playing time by playing solid defense in his limited minutes.

“Frazier out to earn ‘A’ for his ‘D,’ ” the headline says.

It’s in the press clippings included among the Arizona media notes here at the Final Four, where Frazier is finishing a basketball journey that has taken him from L.A. to Texas to Arizona. Unintentionally, the headline stirs up thoughts of the most difficult and controversial times of Frazier’s career.

In January of 1996, The Times reported that one of Frazier’s teachers at Dorsey High said the basketball coach had pressured him to change Frazier’s grades so he could maintain eligibility. The Times story also said that a C Frazier had received in geometry had been changed to a B, and a physical education B raised to an A to help Frazier reach the 2.0 minimum grade-point average.

Dorsey denied the charges and Frazier still does today, but the CIF banned the Dons from the playoffs and forced them to forfeit eight victories in which Frazier had participated.

“When that came out, it messed my whole career, my year, it messed everything up,” Frazier said. “The incident wasn’t true. But the simple fact that it came out, the coaches and everything fell off me. I was getting recruited by different schools, but then they stopped recruiting me.”

Frazier said USC and Ohio State were among the schools recruiting him before the story broke.

He moved to Oregon in hopes of attending and playing for the University of Portland. He had reached the requisite score on the SAT, but the NCAA clearinghouse wasn’t counting one of his high school classes among the necessary 13 “core” courses, denying him eligibility. He came back to Los Angeles after the first semester.

The Portland coach suggested he try Lon Morris Junior College in Jacksonville, Texas. At that point, just about anything sounded good. Especially something out of state.

“In California, too many people,” Frazier said. “I knew everybody there. I probably wouldn’t be going to school, [I’d be] partying. So I was like, ‘Let me get away.’ It was good for me. I needed to get away.”

Culturally, Jacksonville was about as far away as he could get from South Central L.A.

“It was small,” Frazier said. “At home, you drive by, people are staring at you. Out there, somebody walks by or drives by, they’re waving at you. It was real different. But it was real cool, I enjoyed it.”

He took advantage of the slower pace to work on his game. An assistant coach gave him a key to the gym, so Frazier would go shoot jumpers until 1 or 2 a.m.

As a freshman, he averaged 16.2 points and as a sophomore he made the all-conference team by averaging 23 points and 5.2 assists.

Arizona assistant coach Jay John caught a glimpse of Frazier when Lon Morris played Kilgore. John was there to see Kilgore players Nolan Johnson (who wound up signing with Oklahoma) and Trevor Diggs (who went to Nevada Las Vegas).

“That was a big-time game, and Lamont was a dominant player,” John said. “Lon Morris lost at the buzzer. I filed that away.”

Frazier’s first year at Arizona was cut short by a back injury. Frazier thinks it was the result of being hit in the back too often. He had surgery and missed all but seven games last season.

This season, his last of college eligibility, he has averaged only 2.5 points in 8 1/2 minutes of playing time a game.

It’s tough for a guard at Arizona to find playing time behind the starting backcourt of Jason Gardner and Gilbert Arenas.

“My experience here hasn’t been like I hoped it to be, but I hope it gets better later on down the line,” Frazier said. “I just wish I could get more opportunities. It’s limited. I just want the opportunity and I’m not really getting it.”

At least he’s getting the opportunity to play in the Final Four. He got his first taste of the hoopla Friday, when the Wildcats took the court at the Metrodome for their open practice in front of 10,000 or so fans.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” Frazier said. “Everybody comes up dreaming about this, and we’re getting a chance to experience it. We’re taking advantage of it.

“For people who are not here, I’m hoping they get a chance to get it too, because it’s a great experience. I went out there and I see all the people in the stands and I’m like, ‘Man it’s like this?’ It’s great, I love to see things like this.

“I hope the people next year, when I leave here, next year’s team can make it too.”

Even if the Wildcats don’t win the championship, he won’t leave empty-handed. Frazier, a sociology major, said he will get his diploma in May.

“I want to do it for myself and my mom,” he said. “I’ll probably be the only person in my family that will have a degree.”

He plans to “get my degree, go overseas and play.

“I want to keep playing. I want to get that paper, but I want to keep playing.”

The dream won’t disappear easily. The desire that took him to Texas, kept him in the gym those late nights, took him to Arizona, will take him to the next stop, wherever that might be.

“I’ll never give up,” Frazier said. “I’m going to keep going, trying all I can. I’m not a quitter.”

J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Final Four at a Glance

MOST APPEARANCES

15 North Carolina

14* UCLA

13 Duke

13 Kentucky

10 Kansas

9 Ohio State

7 Indiana