Rolando Frazer Thorne (born July 3, 1958, in

Panama City, Panama Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province ...

) is a Panamanian former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. At a height of tall, he played at the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

and center positions. He was an inaugural inductee of the Briar Cliff Athletic Hall of Fame, in 1991.

College career

Frazer, originally a native of

, was recruited by

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Ray Nacke to play

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

at Briar Cliff College, in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...

. He was cited as an NAIA Honorable Mention

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

as a freshman, when he averaged 15.6 points per game, as a

sixth man The sixth man in basketball is a player who is not a starting lineup, starter but comes off the bench much more often than other reserves, often being the first player to be substituted in, and the first to be used against the other team's subst ...

. He led the nation (all divisions) in scoring his junior year, when he averaged 36.4 points per game. He averaged 30.1 points per game as a senior, when the Chargers finished with a 27–3 record, and were the number one rated team in the final NAIA top twenty poll. Overall, in 118 games played, Frazer averaged 26.2 points, 9.4 rebounds per game, and 1.7 assists per game, and shot 60.5 percent from the floor, during his college career. He owns 14 of Briar Cliff's top twenty-five individual scoring performances, including his career best 56-point outburst against Northwestern, on February 13, 1980. Frazer also continues to hold the Chargers' career rebounding record, with 1,110 total rebounds. In 1981, Frazer shared the George Clarkson Award with

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

's Lewis Lloyd. The Clarkson Award is presented annually to

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

's best collegiate basketball player. At Briar Cliff, he was a three-time NAIA First Team All-American, and he concluded his college career as the state of Iowa's all-time scoring leader, with 3,078 total points scored (he is currently 2nd all-time). He was the first player in the history of Iowan college basketball, to score at least 3,000 total career points, and he is the only Briar Cliff athlete to have been recognized as a three-time First Team NAIA All-American. During Frazer's illustrious college career, Briar Cliff posted an overall record of 101–17. Frazer was cited in numerous national publications throughout his career. The February 2, 1981, issue of

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

, featured Frazer in a college basketball article entitled, "Pride of the Panama Pipeline."

Professional career

Frazer was selected in the 4th round (number 83 overall), in the

1981 NBA draft The 1981 NBA draft was the 35th annual NBA draft, draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 9, 1981, before the 1981–82 NBA season, 1981–82 season. The draft was broadcast in the United States on the NBA ...

, by the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. However, he never played in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. Frazer won the 1983 FIBA Intercontinental Cup championship, while he was a member of the Argentine Club Championship team

Obras Sanitarias Club Atlético Obras Sanitarias de la Nación (mostly known simply as Obras Sanitarias or Obras) is an Argentina, Argentine professional sports club that is located in the district of Núñez, Buenos Aires. Although originally conceived as a rugb ...

. Frazer played most of his career in the Puerto Rican League, where he won the Puerto Rican League championship in 1986, and was a two-time MVP of the league (1981, 1987). He also spent three years in the Spanish League, with TDK Manresa, where he averaged 25.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, in 95 games played.

National team career

Frazer first gained a spot on the Panama men's national basketball team as a 15-year-old, in his second season of playing organized basketball. In 1979, Frazer was named the

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

of an NAIA all-star squad that toured Argentina and Brazil. Frazer took game high scoring honors (19 points) in Panama's 93–88 loss against

Bobby Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement and sixth all- ...

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, at the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games, officially the VIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as San Juan 1979, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization (PASO), and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to Jul ...

. Scoring 26 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, he helped the National team win the gold medal at the

1981 CentroBasket The Centrobasket is a FIBA-sponsored international basketball tournament where national teams from Central America and the Caribbean participate. These countries make up the Central American and Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CONCENCABA). Th ...

. Frazer led Panama to an all-time best ninth-place finish at the

1982 FIBA World Championship The 1982 FIBA World Championship was the 9th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Colombia from 15 to 28 August 1982. Qualification Venues Competin ...

. He was the tournament's top scorer, with a scoring average of 24.4 points per game. He also played at the

1986 FIBA World Championship The 1986 FIBA World Championship was the 10th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. It was hosted by Spain and was held from 5 to 20 July 1986. The final phase of the tournament was hel ...

, where he averaged 19.8 points per game. Along with

Mario Butler Mario Alberto Butler Graham (born January 15, 1957) is a Panamanian retired professional basketball player. Butler spent most of his career playing in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) in Puerto Rico. At , he played center (basketball), ce ...

, he led Panama to become a competitive

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

in the 1980s. In 1987, Frazer returned to the United States, to represent Panama at the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas ...

, at

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Post playing career

After he retired from playing professional basketball, Frazer became a basketball referee.

References

External links

FIBA ProfileSpanish League Profile

Spanish League StatsPuerto Rican League Profile

Briar Cliff Chargers Athletic Hall of FameTheDraftReview.com ProfileSports Illustrated PRIDE OF THE PANAMA PIPELINE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frazer, Rolando 1958 births Living people Baloncesto Superior Nacional players Basketball players at the 1979 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1987 Pan American Games Bàsquet Manresa players Briar Cliff Chargers men's basketball players Capitanes de Arecibo players Centers (basketball) Indiana Pacers draft picks Liga ACB players Maratonistas de Coamo players Obras Sanitarias basketball players Panamanian men's basketball players 1982 FIBA World Championship players Pan American Games competitors for Panama Power forwards Small forwards Sportspeople from Panama City 1986 FIBA World Championship players Polluelos de Aibonito players