Family and fear motivate junior forward to do great things
UVU forward Konner Frey has become known for the intense and awesome faces he makes during a game but he is more than just a photogenic basketball player. He is an athlete with a passion to win and a family man. The junior out of Viewmont High School in Bountiful has had quite the journey to Orem. He has spent time playing for both North West College and Utah State prior to making his way to UVU and Head Coach Mark Pope.
“Coach Pope is the man. His style of play fits very well into my game. It’s very fast and up and down. I love to get out in the open court,” Frey said. “It’s definitely different than what I’ve previously played for at Utah State. It’s a lot more fun style to play and it’s a lot more effective style as well.”
Frey tries to get home once every two weeks to spend time with his family. He comes from a family of six kids, including a lot of athletes: a sister that played football when she was 10, a brother who plays football at BYU, and his oldest brother who had offers to play football at several places around the country before ultimately deciding to get married instead. He also has one brother who is a Broadway singer and has been in a couple of movies. According to his Twitter account, family is number one to Frey.
“Don’t get me wrong … I sure do love basketball, learning, cultures, etc … but THIS is what I live for. FAMILY #Freyday.” Included in the tweet is a picture of him with his nieces and nephews.
Motivation can come from many places for many players to perform and continue to grow. For Frey, that motivation is fear.
“I guess I just kind of have a fear of being average,” Frey said. “We could talk about religion, and family is a huge thing. I just want to be my own person. I want to do something that is meaningful in this life and that goes beyond basketball as well. I was raised in a family where hard work was definitely taught everyday. Growing up with my brothers taught me hard work is crucial to any success.”
For Frey, he spent most of his life with the plan to attend medical school. However, in 2012 when he was called to serve a Chinese-speaking mission in Singapore that all changed.
“After I went on my mission, I’ve kind of felt an obligation to use Chinese in the business field somehow because I feel like there are a lot of doors that open up with that,” Frey said. “So right now I’d say that’s probably the plan to go into something along the lines of international business, foreign markets so I can utilize the Chinese language. And I am still considering the possibility to play professionally overseas for basketball to gain an experience and play the game a little bit longer.”
Many student-athletes on campus don’t always interact with their classmates or students in the halls. However, Konner Frey is not the ordinary student-athlete and believes that getting involved in classes is beneficial.
“Coach can take credit for that,” Frey said. “He wants us to be very involved. He knows in order to have a successful basketball program it takes a lot more than a basketball team. It takes the fans, the students and the faculty. He set that standard by example. Coach Pope is always attending different school events. He loves getting involved and meeting with students and the community. By his example he’s set that standard for us.”
