Former Illini Chester Frazier talks return to program as assistant coach
Chester Frazier is back with the orange and blue.
The former Illinois basketball player was hired to join Brad Underwood’s staff in Champaign after the team lost assistant coaches Orlando Antigua and Chin Coleman to Kentucky. He joins the Fighting Illini as an assistant coach after previously working at Kansas State and Virginia Tech.
On Tuesday, Frazier had his first opportunity to speak with the media about returning to Illinois. He’s clearly very excited about the opportunity to be coaching the team he once suited up for from 2005-09.
As a player for the Fighting Illini, Frazier was a two-time B1G All-Defensive Team selection (2006-07, 2008-09) and was a Honorable Mention All-B1G selection following the 2008-09 season.
Frazier played in 125 career games at Illinois and started in 88 contests. He scored 616 points, grabbed 508 rebounds and dished out 484 assists during his four years with the program.
Here’s what Frazier had to say while meeting with reporters on Tuesday:
#illini assistant coach Chester Frazier said it was tough to leave Virginia Tech, which he helped build under Mike Young. But the chance to come back to his alma mater, where he met his wife, was too much to pass. Loves the way Brad Underwood's teams play. pic.twitter.com/2X0XDjVnou
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) May 11, 2021
#illini Chester Frazier: I drove down Green Street, I didn't recognize a lot of it. The place is definitely developed. The facilities are taking a major uplift.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) May 11, 2021
#illini Chester Frazier: "Illinois is an easier sell" in recruiting. Says it's "sexier" than his previous two stops.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) May 11, 2021
#illini Chester Frazier: "We have to remain the toughest team in the Big Ten to compete."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) May 11, 2021
#illini Chester Frazier: You're going to feel my energy every day. Nothing's changed since I played. I still go hard.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) May 11, 2021
#illini assistant coach Chester Frazier: I didn't win a Big Ten championship when I was here and that haunts me, man.
— Joey Wagner (@mrwagner25) May 11, 2021
#Illini Chester Frazier: The initial conversations with the (2021 signees) have been great. They're still Illini.
— Derek Piper (@DPiper247) May 11, 2021
#illini Chester Frazier on Andre Curbelo: "Special. Special. He's got high-speed WiFi upstairs."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) May 11, 2021
