Fran Fraschilla on why he wrote a book, and previewing the 2026-27 college basketball season

College basketball’s regular season starts next month, and few people are more excited than Fran Fraschilla.

The ESPN analyst and former coach is adding a new title to his résumé: author. Don’t Mess With Happy will be released on Oct. 20 and is now available for pre-order. Co-written with David Smale, Fraschilla’s new book features stories and lessons from two decades as a college coach and two decades as a broadcaster.

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Fraschilla coached at Manhattan, St. John’s, and New Mexico. He joined ESPN in 2003 and has not returned to coaching. We recently spoke with Fraschilla about his book and to preview the 2026-27 season.

Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Why did you decide to write a book?

Fran Fraschilla: “I coached for 23 years. I left at 43, thinking I was heading back after a hiatus. Once I got to ESPN, I decided, with two little boys living in Highland Park in Dallas, that I probably wouldn’t mess with happy, and I stayed.

“It’s a lifetime love affair with the game of basketball, which starts in Brooklyn, New York, as a city kid on the playgrounds, 23 years of coaching, and now going into my 24th year of broadcasting. I’m not necessarily the hero of the book. I’m just a guide to so many great basketball stories about people like Jay Wright, Tom Izzo, Rick Barnes, Brent Musburger, Jon Sciambi, and on. I’ve been in some unique places in basketball, and I decided to put it down on paper.”

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What would you consider the most fascinating detail in your book?

“I decided to go to Marquette University to be the associate head coach in 2007. It’s the first chapter of the book. I was going to a place that had come off a Final Four (in 2003), with a Hall of Fame player in Dwyane Wade and a very close friend in Tom Crean. I was 90 minutes from getting on a plane in Dallas and going to Milwaukee, and I talked to my boss at ESPN. It was basically some niceties. He did a great job and said all the best of luck. As soon as I…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/fran-fraschilla-why-wrote-book-130005731.html

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Publish date : 2026-10-16 13:00:00

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