Recruited by God

Arizona native Connor Frith’s love of basketball started innocently enough with a little rubber basketball when he was around 4 years old.

“Basketball came natural to me, which kind of started my ego,” laughed Frith. “Seventh grade is when I learned that I had to really start practicing because the other players were starting to get just as good as me, and I didn't want that to happen.”

Frith continued to excel on the court throughout his middle and high school years, which fueled his dream to play basketball in college. That dream soon consumed his mind and defined his life.

“I started down a path of really selfish behavior,” said Frith. “If a person didn’t serve me somehow in getting me ahead in basketball, then I didn’t want to be around them.”

Frith was saved as a high school freshman, but lived a delusion of a Christian life. Friends from church tried to counsel him about his arrogance and behavior, but he deflected their warnings and insisted he was following God’s will. But he wasn’t.

His arrogance quickly caught up to him during an AAU game where he was being evaluated for a college scholarship. Frith played the worst basketball of his life and the recruiter left at half-time. All the hope he put into playing basketball in college was gone.

Frith was left with immeasurable pain, frustration and disappointment. He began plotting how to permanently escape the agony until he was rerouted by his brother.

“I just remember my brother coming into the bathroom and he said, ‘Get up, we're going to the gym.’”

Frith went begrudgingly and they met up with their basketball trainer, someone who had been inviting him to attend a Bible study numerous times over the years. Though he had been playing a terrible session, God played His best that day. He connected Frith with the right people at the right time.

Confessing his plan to end his life, Frith expected pity from his trainer and mentor, and he was caught off guard by his response.

“He told me, ‘You’re limiting yourself and God, but mostly God, to what He can do,’” shared Frith. “You're making your entire life about this one tiny area when God wants to use everything else!’” shared Frith.

For the first time, Frith accepted his trainer’s invitation to attend a Bible study.

At the Bible study, the hours went by like minutes, and Frith engaged with God in a new way.

“It was at those Bible studies where I actually understood grace, love and our purpose on earth,” he said. “Our purpose is not to build things for ourselves, it's to build things for God's Kingdom.”

As his faith grew, Frith began leading Bible studies and sharing the Gospel with anyone who would listen, and his spiritual transformation soon began to permeate the court.

“That summer I played some of the best basketball I’ve ever played,” Frith recalled. “That time it was different having success on the court. It wasn’t all about me.”

In the fall of 2016, after graduating high school, he walked on to the basketball team at Utah Tech University (UTU). Upon arrival and through a series of unfortunate events, Frith had to step away from the team. But the news didn’t crush him like it normally would have in high school.

“There was a sense of peace,” Frith said. “I knew God was faithful. I didn’t know what God was going to do, but I trusted His control.”

He was right. God was faithful. Just when Frith thought the door to play basketball in college was shut, a different door opened. This door, however, led Frith to the UTU’s Women’s Basketball practice squad. He eventually earned a scholarship as the team’s player development coach and marveled at where the Lord took him.

“I remember being in the gym shooting around and hearing God say to me, ‘Hey, look where you are right now: You’re playing basketball at the college level. This is everything I promised you, and I know it didn’t happen the way you expected, but sometimes I (God) have to make you take a step back in order to see the bigger picture,’” Frith said.

After graduating in 2020, Frith began his own company called CF Hoops, an in-person and online player development training for basketball players. When he is not developing young basketball players, Frith leads Bible studies and volunteers at FCA Wyoming’s Sports Camp.

Frith will forever be grateful to his basketball trainer for filling him with truth at a pivotal point in his life. Because a coach challenged him to get real about his walk with God and pointed him toward a hope that was bigger than his sport, Frith is now leading other coaches and athletes to Christ.

Photos courtesy of South Dakota FCA, Connor Frith and Utah Tech Athletics