Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) – Sophomores Darren Moore and Richard Frohlich became the first two players from the 2007-2008 season to sign letters of intent to continue their playing careers at the next level. Moore, will play next season with NCAA Division I UC Irvine, while Frohlich has signed with NCAA Division I University of Texas San Antonio.
“I think both Richie and Darren have selected schools that need exactly what they are getting,” Head Coach Rick Croy said. “San Antonio needs an interior post player that brings it everyday, and UC Irvine needs a competitor that loves to win and can guard great athletes.
While both are looking forward to their next challenge, both players know they wouldn’t be able to fulfill their dreams without the help of the Citrus basketball program.
“They really have us max out everyday, and help with our weaknesses,” Moore said. “Coach Croy has helped expose what I need to work on and him and his coaching staff has helped me improve.”
“I think we practice like a Division I program,” Frohlich said. “This program is hard, intense, and teaches you discipline. Mentally and physically they prepare you. They are a great coaching staff.”
With all of their hard work coming over a short amount of time, Head Coach Rick Croy has soon an improvement in both young men.
“Darren has found his passion for the game, and for competing all over again,” Croy said,” and Richie has developed more in one year as a player and a person, more than anyone else I have worked with,” Croy said.
For Moore everything has come full circle, after leaving Northern Colorado this season Moore is in a good place, playing with the Fighting Owls for a season before moving back to the Division I scene with the Anteaters.
“The [UCI] staff has been recruiting me since I was a junior (in high school),” Moore said. “The coaches are a great fit and I feel comfortable with them, plus it’s in a good area, close to home.”
With a place he can now call home, Moore is excited about the opportunities in front of him. “Something I’ve always wanted to do since high school is make it to March Madness,” Moore said of his goals at UCI, “but winning in general is really all I want to do.”
While he has a future with the Anteaters, Moore isn’t looking to far ahead, as he has some unfinished business with Citrus. “I’m expecting to have a good season here at Citrus,” Moore said. “Not necessarily as an individual, but more importantly as a team.”
As for Frohlich, his signing brings a sense of pride to the six-foot nine-inch German. “This is the first goal that I set for myself, and it’s really the first goal that I have reached on my own in my life,” he said.
For Frohlich, UTSA provided all that he was looking for in helping to achieve his childhood dreams.
“The coaches recruited me the hardest and like the potential that they saw,” he said. “I went on a recruiting trip, and I liked the coaches, the campus, and all of the people. It had a real family atmosphere, which I liked a lot.”
Moore and Frohlich become the sixth and seventh Fighting Owls respectively to sign letters of intent with NCAA Division I schools. Since Croy took the program over three short years ago, twelve players have earned scholarships to continue playing basketball at the next level.