Good to see a former Guilford County basketball talent on Thursday, but this young man lost his hoops and his college academics due to a Concussion

Ran into former Northern Guilford Nighthawk men’s basketball player Jonathan Frye today up at the Shane’s Rib Shack on Westover Terrace and it was almost like we had a Basketball in Focus show without the LIVE radio, as we talked for a long while about what happened to Jonathan’s college basketball career and how his college education continues to allude him, due to the way his basketball career came to an end/close…

I said I ran into Jonathan, and the problem is back at Tulane, in college, someone ran into him….

The collision that young Mr. Frye experienced caused a concussion and that concussion ended his college basketball career and made it so he can’t even carry on his academic workload, and as it goes, he can not finish and attain his college degree…

Jonathan collided with another player during one of his college games while he was playing for the Tulane Green Wave and when Frye and the other player bumped heads, Jonathan also fell back and hit the back of his head on the basketball floor too, pretty much doubling the severity of his concussion…

Jonathan left Tulane after the injury and transferred to Appalachian State, where he tried to continue his basketball career, giving it a strong go/try with the Mountaineers, but he could never get his game going again due to that concussion…

To make matters even worse, Jonathan could not focus on his college work and had to not only give up his basketball career, he had to leave and quit college too…

The red-headed kid from back in the day could really play some basketball…I remember seeing him back in the early part of his career as a freshman at High Point Central and can still see him walking into the Grimsley Whirlies’ Bob Sawyer Gym wearing a white shirt and a tie and he was a smaller Frye back then…

Jonathan later played at Northern Guilford and he did quite well there too…He was part of the ill-fated 3-A State Title team and then the next year, when most of the team made the flight out of NG and went to ORMA, Jonathan decided to stick it out and he stayed at Northern and he nearly led his team to the State 3-A Finals again and he helped his high school team get as far as the NCHSAA Eastern Regional Finals, his senior season…

After high school Frye hit Tulane down in New Orleans and was having much success as a college basketball player until that concussion hit and as soon as that happened it was the beginning of the end for Jonathan Frye’ basketball life…

His doctors won’t even let him play basketball any more…He can shoot around, but that is all…No more games until maybe some day they can figure out how to curtail the lingering effects of his concussion…

Things get fuzzy, you get dizzy, you just can’t focus and sometimes you just feel sick…

Jonathan Frye had to leave Appalachian State and has not been able to continue his college education, the concussion problems will just not allow him to focus on his studies…Frye has tried to get it together again by going the way of on-line classes and some day that might be the answer…He sure hopes so…

Jonathan just wants to complete his college education and become a college graduate…

You never know in life what hand of cards you might be dealt, but you can say for sure that Jonathan Frye has been dealing with a set of very tough circumstances over the past few years…The kid is battling the concussion that changed his life forever…

I feel for one hope that he can get it going again and still be that red-headed kid that took off on a fast break one Saturday night in a game in the Guilford College Ragan-Brown Fieldhouse and J. Frye slammed that ball down with authority on the offensive end…That was one Slam Dunk that I will never forget…The red-headed kid killed it…And to make it even sweeter for Jonathan, the game was against his arch-rival, the Northwest Guilford Vikings and the Nighthawks went to win the game by around 10 points…

And now the kid can no longer play basketball and he just wants to get his college education…Concussions are the main concern in the football circles these days, but after reading this, you can tell that concussions can take place and ruin an athlete’s career in any sport…

Again, here’s hoping that Jonathan Frye can resurrect his ability to work on his academics and I want to see the young man get/earn his college degree….

Frye has become a youth basketball coach here locally and this man has a lot to offer to those young players that are willing to learn…Jonathan can also help others that need to know the trouble that concussions can cause…

J. Frye is a very intelligent young man and he can do a good job in life, but it for sure would be a better lot for him, if he could overcome those concussion-related issues…

Got to keep trying and I don’t think this former hoops star is going to throw in the towel any time soon.

Jonathan Frye good to see you on Thursday and we are looking forward to seeing you walk for your college graduation and that will be a dream come true for you and we hope you can make it happen…

Jonathan Frye wants to help others with concussions and for us, we need to help him as much as we can…

Encouragement can be a big boost to those who need some support….

Remember J. Frye and if you see him, let him know that he has a following on his side in his battle against the concussions….J. Frye fans for life right here, right now…..