Frankamp set to face familiar foe in high school basketball opener
It's Wednesday, two days until North's season opener against Heights, and Conner Frankamp is practicing in a dimly-lit auxiliary gym, tucked away deep in the school's labyrinth of hallways.
Frankamp, a 6-foot-1 junior who averaged 27.2 points last season, in two years will be teammates with Heights senior forward Perry Ellis at Kansas, where they've both decided to play college basketball.
But Allen Fieldhouse is a long way off.
"We can be enemies on the court," Frankamp said. "And we can be friends off of it."
Frankamp, who committed to Kansas in July, isn't living in a bubble. Far from it.
He's developed a support system around him with his teammates and coaches — father Marty is an assistant at North — that allows him to perform at a high level.
"Conner grew up around North High basketball," North coach Gary Squires said. "He likes the tradition of the gym we play in. He likes the drums. He likes it here. He likes playing for me, he likes our offense. That's it."
At about the same time Squires is talking, Frankamp drop-steps and dunks on a side goal.
The night before, he dunked in a preseason scrimmage. He also dunked during a game this summer for the under-16 United States team that won a gold medal in Cancun, Mexico.
"That's something new I've developed, just by getting stronger and working out," Frankamp said. "I can do a couple of dunks... now. I wouldn't (dunk) in traffic, but on the break, definitely."
After practice ends, it's more practice. Marty takes Conner to a YMCA where he'll work with a strength and conditioning coach, Roy Birch, then get up about 300 shots.
"Kind of a light day," Conner said. "Probably just work on a lot of stretching, a lot of flexibility. It's getting close to game day. The routine with my dad... it seems like we've been doing it forever."
Marty teaches at Pleasant Valley Middle School and Conner's mother, Karen, teaches kindergarten at Bostic Traditional Magnet. The family, which lives in Andover, has tried their best to teach Conner about being humble, an important lesson with their son's burgeoning fame.
More and more, when he goes out in public, people recognize him.
That's the kid going to KU.
That's the kid who scored 52 points in a game last year.
"I haven't seen him go off, not really ever in public," Marty Frankamp said. "Mainly just messing around with his big brother... they get after it pretty good. It's real important that (Conner) stays humble, and he's done a good job at it."
Thursday afternoon, Squires introduced Frankamp during an afternoon pep assembly. It was a wild scene. The screams from the student body, packed into every inch of the stands, were deafening.
"You have to see this kid play," Squires told the crowd. "He's really something else."
Both Squires and Marty say that, if anything, Conner is best when the gym is packed and the lights go up.
Like tonight, for example, when the three-time defending Class 6A champions and Conner's future teammate come calling.
"I'm not a robot, I just try not to let my emotions show too much," Conner said before the pep assembly. "I love playing here. I love our gym.
"There's a moment when you're in the tunnel, right before the game starts and you hear the drums playing.... I'll admit that gets me hyped up. Winning is important to me, way more than scoring points. That's the focus."