Showcase Q&A: Canton’s Frazier discusses his golf game, lifeguarding and mathematics
The fourth annual Muddy River Showcase takes place June 21 at John Wood
Community College’s Student Activity Center. The girls game will tip at 2 p.m.
with the boys game to follow at 4 p.m. General admission is $10.
CANTON, Mo. — Tyler Frazier’s final season on the Canton boys basketball team will be one he will never forget.
Last winter, the Tigers accomplished something no team in program history had ever done — reach a state championship game. Canton held a lead going into the fourth quarter of the state title game against No. 1-ranked Eugene but let the advantage slip away, resulting in a second-place finish in Class 2.
Despite that loss, Frazier looks back fondly on the Tigers’ postseason run.
“It was just amazing,” Frazier said. “Those last three games we played could have gone either way. I just think it was a really cool experience, and I’m grateful for everything that happened.”
The brigade of Canton fans did their best to make Mizzou Arena feel like a Tigers’ home.
“Up until that first state game, I’d never played in an environment like that before,” Frazier said. “It was just amazing. It was almost like a quiet loud because the place was so big.”
Even though Frazier won’t get redemption in a state final atmosphere, he will get one more chance to take the court. Frazier and his Canton teammate, Class 2 Player of the Year Preston Brewer, will play for the Missouri boys in the Muddy River Showcase.
Frazier cannot wait to share the floor with Brewer one last time.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Frazier said. “It’s been cool to see him develop and grow.”
Frazier discussed lifeguarding, math, golf, and more with Muddy River Sports Writer Shane Hulsey in this Showcase Q&A.
Q: What are you looking forward to most about playing in the Muddy River Showcase?
A: Just getting to play with all these cool guys. I’ve gotten to play against them, but getting to play with them will be really cool. I’m excited for that.
Q: How much different is it going to be playing against them versus playing with them?
A: It’s going to be quite a bit different. I’ve played with some of these guys before on travel teams, but I’m used to playing with my teammates from Canton.
Q: What was the trip to the state golf tournament like this spring?
A: Honestly, we were just happy to be there. It the first time for all of us except for Avery. We went out there, had fun, and did what we could. It just wasn’t our best days.
Q: It’s really about the experience, isn’t it?
A: It was incredible, and that course was difficult.
Q: What’s your favorite club in your golf bag?
A: Probably my 8-iron. I like the way I strike it when I’m playing full shots, and when I’m around the greens, I like to do a bump-and-run with it. I use it like a putting stroke instead of a chip. It goes exactly where you want it to if you get the right pace on it. It’s the best play I feel like if you’re like halfway through the fringe.
Q: So, would your short game be the best part of your game?
A: At the end of the year, it was. It defintiely wasn’t my driver. It used to be my irons, but they kind of went away.
Q: What’s the lowest round you’ve ever shot, and where was it?
A: Through nine holes, I shot 2-under at River Valley Community Golf Course, and through 18, 1-over there.
Q: Have you ever gotten a hole-in-one?
A: Nope.
Q: How close have you gotten to making one, and when did it happen?
A: Once, I had a ball roll up to about two inches from the cup. It was about a week before districts at River Valley about a month ago.
Q: Did you think it was going in?
A: I thought it had a chance.
Q: What are some of your hobbies outside of basketball and golf?
A: I spend a lot of time playing golf, but I do a lot of swimming, too, and work. That’s pretty much all I do.
Q: What do you do for work?
A: I mow for some people, and I work at the Canton pool right now. I’m a lifeguard and assistant manager.
Q: What’s that like?
A: Lifeguarding, you just watch the kids and make sure they don’t drown. I did have to pull a kid out the water the other day.
Q: What happened?
A: He had a floatie on, absolutely no threat of drowning, and he jumped in without his goggles, went underwater, came up and started crying, panicking. I had to hop in, pick him up and put him on the side.
Q: Have you ever had to do anything like that before?
A: No.
Q: How long have you been lifeguarding?
A: This is my third year.
Q: What are your college plans?
A: I’m going to Truman State. I’m studying finance.
Q: What drew you to Truman State?
A: My parents and my sister went there. It’s cost-effective. It’s challenging, so I feel like I’ll learn something.
Q: Do you think you’ll make some trips over to Quincy to watch Preston?
A: Oh, yeah, I definitely will.
Q: Do you have a dream job?
A: I want to be in middle management or a CFO.
Q: What made you want to get into that?
A: My competitive nature, and I really like math and numbers. I feel like the business world helps integrate that into something that I can use.
Q: So you’re a math nerd, then?
A: Oh, yeah, definitely.
Q: Have you been that way as long as you can remember?
A: Yep. I would try to multiplication in kindergarten. I took all the math classes they offered at Canton.
Q: So, finance is perfect for you, then?
A: Yes, it is.
Q: Who was your favorite teacher?
A: Chad Morris. He was a math teacher. He has a master’s degree, not in teaching or anything, but in math. That’s insane that he’s teaching at a school that’s so small.
Q: Why was he your favorite teacher?
A: He taught us the most complex stuff and made it seem so simple, and he never took himself too seriously. He could always make plenty of jokes.
Check out more of the Muddy River Showcase Q&As at the links below:
Payson Seymour’s Blake Schwartz
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