BV Northwest’s Ed Fritz coaches KU prospects, others to victory in McDonald’s game

Blue Valley Northwest’s Ed Fritz faced one of the biggest challenges of his coaching career this week at McDonald’s All-America camp in Atlanta.

That is … how to take 11 of the country’s top high school players and make sure they play team basketball and winning basketball — instead of settling for breakaway dunks and NBA three-pointers — for all to see on ESPN2.

“I tried to stress to the kids usually the MVP of the game is off the winning team and that it’s a lot more fun to play team basketball than to shoot all the time off the first pass. I was lucky to have a lot of great kids who were great teammates,” Fritz told The Star on Thursday, a day after his East all-stars upended the West, 115-100, in the 2019 McDonald’s game at State Farm Arena.

Fritz, who has led BV Northwest to three-straight state titles and five crowns in his 17 years at the Class 6A school, was right about MVP honors. Cole Anthony, a 6-foot-2 senior point guard from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., was named MVP after scoring 14 points, dishing seven assists and grabbing five rebounds for the victors.

“He is very vocal. He is all about winning,” Fritz said of Anthony, the country’s No. 4-rated player in the recruiting Class of 2019 (according to Rivals.com), who is considering North Carolina, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Oregon and Wake Forest in recruiting.

“He has a well-rounded game. He did a good job of getting to their guards. He disrupted some of their shooters as well,” Fritz added. “He has a lot of intangibles as a leader and the ability to make others better and really wants to win. I talked to his dad last night (former NBA player Greg Anthony) which was a really big treat for me.”

The leading scorer for Fritz’s East team was Precious Achiuwa, a 6-9 senior forward from Montverde (Fla.) Academy, who has KU on his list of schools. Achiuwa scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

“I don’t think there was a more athletic player in the game than Precious,” said Fritz. “Once he figures out more things with his game … his ceiling is probably as high as any player that played in that game in my opinion. He put 20 shots up (hitting 10). He did a great job attacking the basket. He also had nine rebounds. He’s a really good player,” Fritz added of Rivals.com’s No. 16-rated player nationally who is considering KU, North Carolina, Memphis, Georgia and others.

Fritz said Isaiah Stewart, a 6-9 senior forward from La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind., was instrumental to the victory. The future University of Washington player, who is ranked No. 5 nationally, had 16 points and five rebounds for the East.

“He was the neatest kid to be around, so much fun,” Fritz said. “He had a big matchup with James Wiseman (Memphis signee who had 13 points, six boards for West). He was great to coach.”

KU recruiting target Matthew Hurt, a 6-9 senior from John Marshall High in Rochester, Minn., had eight points and five boards for the West.

“He is multi-dimensional. He has the size. He has a really good stroke. He has a lot of ability to be a really good player,” Fritz said of Hurt, the country’s No. 7-rated player who is considering KU, North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, Minnesota and Memphis.

Villanova signee Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, a 6-9 forward out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., and formerly of Bishop Miege, had 13 points and four boards for the West.

“Great to be around … he’s a great kid,” Fritz said of Robinson-Earl. “I was talking to him about how he was able to develop his game this past year. He got to the position he can be a 3-man and put the ball on the floor and do those kind of things. I thought he played great in the game.”

Fritz — he was assisted on the bench by BV Northwest colleague Luke Laser and Derby coach Brett Flory — said everything about the McDonald’s game was first-class.

“I’ve had a million experiences. This is right up there at the top,” Fritz said. “I’m so thankful for so many people that nominated me for it. I think a lot of people had to recommend me to coach so I’m thankful I got that opportunity.”

Michael Jordan and LeBron James and Kobe Bryant played in the McDonald’s game, which annually is considered the top postseason all-star game for prep players.

“The camaraderie you have … the practices you have and kids you get to coach and people you meet, I am so happy I got to experience this,” Fritz said.

And he confesses it’s more fun to win.

“It’s so much better because I can still say we won the last game of the year,” the state champion coach, whose squad defeated Washburn Rural, 53-41, on March 9 in Wichita, said with a laugh.

This story was originally published March 28, 2019 at 5:02 PM with the headline "BV Northwest’s Ed Fritz coaches KU prospects, others to victory in McDonald’s game."