Calabasas basketball team dedicates season to assistant coach who remains in coma

CALABASAS -- A great start but with a heavy heart.

The Calabasas High boys' basketball team has won 13 of its first 15 games, but there is a lot of emotional pain behind the Coyotes' success.

Assistant coach Joseph Frazier has been in a coma for more than four months, fighting for his life at Northridge Hospital since Aug. 25 after being struck while riding his motorcycle by a hit-and-run driver.

Frazier, 28, has yet to wake up after a series of operations to relieve pressure on his brain. He was wearing a helmet that night but had purchased the motorcycle and learned to ride just two weeks earlier.

Calabasas coach Jon Palarz and his players continue to visit the fallen coach in the hospital, hoping for a

Calabasas boys' basketball assistant coach Joseph Frazier remains at California Rehabilitation Center in Van Nuys in a coma after being the victim of a hit-and-run while riding his motorcycle. (Michael Owen Baker)

sign of life in addition to Frazier's occasional muscle twitches that have left the Calabasas basketball family optimistic yet still gravely concerned.

To most of the players, Frazier, who played at Cal State Northridge before a brief professional career overseas, is more than an assistant coach. He is a family friend who has known some of the boys for years.

"I've known Joe since the fourth grade, and he has always been my hero," Calabasas guard Spencer Levy said. "When this happened, it was sort of a huge shock to me and to the whole team. I mean, before all this, he was always at our house, chillin' and working. He was always around. We're like family."

Close enough in age to relate well to teenagers, Frazier was a mentor.

Being a basketball coach was never going to make Frazier wealthy -- finances were tight, so that's why he purchased the motorcycle to cut spending, Palarz said -- but Frazier is a rich man in terms of love and respect.

"Whenever you needed someone to talk to, or whenever you needed help with something, he was always, always right there for you," Levy said. "The first time I saw him lying there in a hospital bed, all cut up and bruised, it was more than devastating. I broke into tears. You can't describe the feeling, you can't capture it without going through it yourself, but it felt like the world was falling."

Frazier's initials plus the No. 20 (the number he wore at CSUN) are emblazoned on Calabasas' jerseys, and every day the severely injured coach is in the Coyotes' thoughts and prayers.

"He is our inspiration. We've definitely dedicated the season to him," Calabasas forward Josh Cohan said. "I actually have a really strong connection, not just to Frazier but to what happened to him, because I was the last one he spoke to before the accident. We were working out, and we walked out of the gym together and turned off the lights. I went my way, and he took off on his motorcycle. I was the last one to see him, so it's pretty tough on me."

Police continue to investigate, but there isn't much to go on except the alleged perpetrator was driving a small, white or tan truck or SUV (possibly a Mitsubishi or similar model) that was going west on Ventura Boulevard before colliding with Frazier's motorcycle just before 9 p.m. on the corner of Wilbur Avenue in Tarzana. Anyone with information is urged to call (818) 256-5160.

Palarz said authorities have kept a tight lid on any leads or new information, but the 50-year-old coach believes someone must know what happened and has not come forward.

"In real life, it's not like a TV show like `CSI' where they find a little piece of a broken tailgate and

Calabasas boys' basketball players are wearing jerseys with a "JF" patch and are dedicating their season to assistant coach Joseph Frazier, who remains in a coma as the result of a hit-and-run accident while riding his motorcycle. (Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer)

immediately solve the case," Palarz said. "The police haven't given us any information."

Everyone is hoping Frazier will wake up, but in cases like this, it's impossible to foresee what might happen, Palarz said.

"The doctors said you can't predict -- there are no tests, no timelines," Palarz said. "But perhaps it's similar to the guy in the Dodger Stadium beating who came out of a coma after six months. Nothing has happened too quickly, but we have not lost hope."

Cohan doesn't want to believe that someone could be so callous as to leave a bloody, unconscious accident victim in the street, and the youngster is even more disenchanted about the possibility that whoever collided with Frazier might have told others about it, yet still no one has volunteered information.

"I would hope people are better than that," Cohan said. "I don't know how anyone could live with themselves, holding a secret like this. It's sad and so unfair, but even if they catch the guy, how is that going to bring the family any relief?

"I will say this: It's tough not knowing the whole story, and it's hard to believe someone knows something out there but has not come forward."

In the meantime, Calabasas is playing with a purpose, winning its first 10 games, including tournament championships at Campbell Hall and in Palm Springs, before its first loss Dec. 27 to Oaks Christian. Second-year assistant Doug Yocum is still on staff, joined by new assistant Michael Westphal, son of former NBA star and coach Paul Westphal.

The Calabasas kids and their coaches are clinging to hope, building faith and refusing to believe things will get worse instead of better.

"Coach Frazier has touched all of our lives, and I know he is going to wake up," Levy said. "There is not a doubt in my mind because he is the strongest person I know. I can't wait. I'm counting the days."

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_19684284?source=rss

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