[Sly Fox]

Liberty has three one-of-a-kind players in the Frazee sisters


Megan, Molly and Moriah Frazee, from left. Molly and Moriah are identical twins, while Megan is a fraternal sibling. But few can tell them apart. LES SCHOFER/SPECIAL TO THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

By VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, The Virginian-Pilot
© January 26, 2007

LYNCHBURG - Mere minutes separated the Frazee triplets at birth 19-1/2 years ago.

Since then, little has kept them apart.

On second thought...

"You went to that overnight basketball camp that time, remember?" ponytailed Moriah asks her equally ponytailed sister Megan.

Or did Molly say that?

Moriah and Molly are identical; Megan is a fraternal sibling, though all three so closely resemble one another that they can stump even an astute observer.

It's hardly unusual for triplets to cling together constantly. What's extraordinary is that these three not only attend Liberty University together but also play basketball for the school. That gives them the distinction of being the only triplets in Division I. The three sophomores have been in the starting lineup together eight times this season.

If that seems like a lot of togetherness, consider that their parents, Jim and Tammy Frazee, are quiet but fervent spectators at each Flames home game.. The two, former Christian missionaries, left teachings jobs in Xenia, Ohio, to move to Lynchburg to work and to watch the triplets play.

Even the triplets' older brother, Zeb, is at Liberty. He transferred there from Kentucky Christian, making the family unit complete.

Tammy Frazee, now teaching fourth grade in Lynchburg, tracks fouls during games, occasionally interjecting a "C'mon, Megan/Molly/Moriah" cheer. Jim Frazee, muttering sporadic advice, snaps photos with a digital camera. Zeb, a junior, slumps in his seat, enjoying Tetris on his cell phone with a constant eye toward the court.

The family insists the mass relocation is no big deal. "We wanted to be able to watch some games," explains Tammy Frazee.

The triplets stress their college choice came down to two factors: family and religion.

"We wanted to stay together and we wanted to play for a Christian university," Megan says, criteria that narrowed their options.

All three triplets - Megan and Moriah are 6-foot-3, a half-inch taller than Molly - were recruited, but Megan attracted the most interest. She was the Associated Press Region Player of the Year and a Street & Smith All-American honorable mention selection in high school.

Megan is hesitant to reveal specific names of schools that recruited her, but in less than a full season on the court - she tore a knee ligament 14 games into last season - she is proving her talents. She's a mismatch for most opponents, and the University of Virginia found out in December why she is the Big South's Preseason Player of the Year. She tore up the Cavaliers with 37 points in a game in Charlottesville and is already mentioned as a top prospect in two years in the WNBA draft.

Asked if she could remember any player causing so much havoc, U.Va. senior guard Siedah Williams said, "The only time I can remember it was against Duke with (All-American) Alana Beard.... We tried to do a variety of things like switching and denying her the ball. Nothing seemed to work."

Moriah and Molly aren't exactly benchwarmers. Moriah, who has started every game this season, leads the team in blocks and averages 7.9 points. Molly scores 7.8 points per game.

That's why Liberty coach Carey Green considered it a "no-brainer" when he signed the triplets, whom he saw for the first time when they were 15-year-olds playing in an AAU tournament in Virginia Beach.

The Frazees assimilate well with the rest of the Flames, says teammate Rachel Hammond, who played against them as a rising high school senior. Back then she recalled the triplets as "all huge and looking alike," but today she says they're easy to tell apart.

"They move different and have different gestures," says Hammond, who rooms with Megan. "Plus Molly holds herself very upright. She has this perfect posture. Moriah and Megan are a bit more relaxed."

As pleased as the triplets are with their college selection, they insist they could just as easily have ended up at their second choice, Cedarville University, a Baptist college near Xenia with an NAIA Division II team. But they wanted to stretch out of their comfort zone.

As youngsters, Megan was the most athletic. "Molly and Moriah wanted Barbie; she wanted a Ken doll," Tammy says. "For her second Christmas, Megan wanted a basketball. The other two wanted a doll buggy."

Megan cherished that ball and quickly began dribbling it on the tile floor in the kitchen. Before long, Molly and Moriah had ditched the dolls and were following their dad to the gym, shooting baskets at the side as he coached. Jim Frazee, who played at Indiana's Hanover College, became his daughters' primary instructor.

"We put up a five-gallon bucket against a backboard made of plywood at the end of our metal garage for Zeb," he said. "The girls used it, too."

They got exposure through an AAU team, also coached by Jim, rather than through the small Christian league in which they spent most of their high school years. Teammates since fifth grade, the Frazees were homeschooled from eighth to 11th grade, which only added to their bond. Rather than have their parents teach them lessons, the learning came by way of videos sent through the mail.

"We'd start at 8 o'clock in the morning and usually be done by noon," said Molly. "We'd be done with homework around 1 and then usually play basketball."

But they all agree, basketball does not define their life in the way it does many college athletes. "That's just not who we are," Molly says. Hardly a sentence is spoken from any of them without a reference to Jesus sprinkled in. Megan is the most overt about her faith, even choosing her No. 40 jersey because of its Biblical significance.

"It's symbolic for a couple of reasons," Megan says. "The great flood last 40 days. Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days. It's a small thing but neat that I can do something on the court to relate back to the Bible."

Megan says they came to accept Jesus at age 5, and Moriah adds, "Even our birth was a miracle."

The triplets weighed in just after midnight at about 3 pounds apiece on March 29, 1987. Molly and Moriah were in the same birth sac with no dividing wall, their umbilical cords knotted. If Tammy hadn't gone into labor five weeks early, they would have likely died.

Ask any one of them a personal question and the answer frequently begins with "We."

"We like Contemporary Christian," answers Megan, when asked about her musical taste.

"We like to swim," responds Moriah, when she's asked about her hobbies.

Sometimes they've been competitive for grades - Molly and Moriah are nursing majors; Megan is into physical education - but on-court, they've never felt threatened by each other.

"We're enjoying this," Megan said. "We're pretty much around each other all the time."

Not even a boyfriend has gotten in the way. No triplet has had one, if you don't count the triplet boys they babysat as high school teens.

"They're 5 now," Molly laughs.

And they respond almost simultaneously when asked what people want to know the most upon meeting them.

"How does it feel to be triplets?"

And their answer? Just fine, thank you.

http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.c ... ran=156037

[TallyW]

I actually just read this today Sly. The local paper has an paper they call "Link" which tries to be more of a progressive voice. For people who live in Hampton Roads they are in the January 26th edition (today) in page 13.

T