Thursday, August 19, 1999
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii quarterback Dan Robinson is chased
by Arizona's Keoni Fraser last season.
Fraser making
By Norm Frauenheim
waves at Arizona
The Arizona RepublicDOUGLAS, Ariz. -- A year ago, he felt a little bit like a surfer who suddenly had been stranded. No beach. No waves. Just miles and miles of empty desert and distant hills.
"After the first couple of days, I must have called my mom every night," Keoni Fraser said.
Janielle Fraser couldn't send her son a solid set of waves from the nearby beaches of Kailua.
"She just told me to hang in there, night after night," Fraser said.
Give mom a scholarship. With her encouragement, Arizona has one of the nation's most promising defensive ends. Actually, a lot of the promise was displayed repeatedly last year. In a season full of surprises, Fraser might have been the biggest one of all.
He was a virtual unknown 12 months ago when he arrived at Cochise College for the Wildcats' annual summer ritual, Camp Cochise. But after just a few games, Fraser was doing things that made running backs wince and offensive coordinators wonder:
Who is that guy?
Fraser forced the question to be asked enough that it's safe to say he's a known quantity as he begins his sophomore season. Often, the second time around is the toughest of all for a young player who achieved unexpected success in his first season.
There'll be no surprises this time. But there don't appear to be any illusions, either.
"I just think I'm going to have to play a lot harder," Fraser said. "By now, people know I like to stop the run, basically. I'm sure I'll probably be seeing a lot of double teams and different looks. Things like that. I'm just going to have to adapt to it when it comes."
If it's adjustment, Fraser has proved himself to be very adept at the task. The journey from Hawaii to the Arizona desert is nothing if not a trip full of change.
"But I've been around some, too, so that helps," Fraser said.
He's the son of retired Marine Sgt. Norman Fraser, a Desert Storm veteran. There have been stops at bases in California and elsewhere.
"I was born in Washington, D.C., but Hawaii is home," said Fraser, who has a shock of hair that is dyed blond. "Life on the Mainland is just a little too quick."
Funny thing is, quick is what Fraser is all about. At 6 feet, 270 pounds, he's built a little bit like one of those wide-bodied, close-to-the-ground Humvees. He moves like one, too.
He displays terrific balance and agility along the line of scrimmage. Last year, offensive linemen simply could not knock him off his feet, much less find him.
Fraser's sudden emergence coincided on the same night that the rest of the nation began to notice Arizona. The Wildcats' victory at Washington is remembered for quarterback Ortege Jenkins' game-winning flip into the end zone.
But without Fraser, nobody would have been doing any somersaults, then or later. He was credited with two solo tackles at the goal line. He kept Washington from scoring so that Jenkins could.
His sudden impact surprised more than just Washington and subsequent opponents. It surprised him, too.
"It did, it really did," said Fraser, who will return as a starter along a defensive line that many think could be among the nation's best. "As a freshman, you just hope you get a chance to make plays. When you first do, you think to yourself, 'Wow.' "
Fraser sounds as though he's energized at the prospect of being something of a marked man this season. He hopes offenses will try to challenge him, Joe Tafoya, Mike Robertson and Anthony Thomas.
These days, Fraser even loves the desert island that happens to be Arizona's preseason football camp. He can't hear the ocean.
But he can hear the hits. Fraser likes to hit almost as much as likes to surf. "Only had to call mom twice this time," said Fraser, who likes the sound of his new home.
