On Campus: Cary-Grove grad Beau Frericks excels in expanded role at Lewis

Beau Frericks knew he would have a bigger role on the court this season for Lewis University’s men’s basketball team.

He knew only one way to prepare.

“I played a lot of 5-on-5 this offseason,” Frericks said. “I did a lot of skill work. The biggest preparation for playing basketball is just playing basketball.”

Frericks, a Cary-Grove graduate, has done plenty of that this season.

Leading the NCAA Division-II Flyers in scoring at 15.3 points a game, which ranks seventh in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, Frericks is logging 33 1/2 minutes a game.

His minutes are almost 10 per game more than a year ago, when he started 12 games as a combo guard. This season, he has started every game for Lewis (6-11).

“I love being on the floor,” said Frericks, a junior. “I love being able to control the momentum. You get a good flow.”

While he regularly brings the ball up the floor for Lewis, Frericks also has the ability to play off the ball. He is a 39% shooter from 3-point range and has the Flyers’ most made 3 this season with 28.

“I’ll do whatever the game asks of me,” Frericks said. “One thing about [playing both guard spots] is it keeps me on the floor longer.”

Thanks to his versatility, Frericks said he has been able to score from multiple spots on the court.

“I’m an all-around scorer, so I like scoring at the rim, from mid-range and from 3,” Frericks said. “I’m getting to the free-throw line a little bit more lately, too.”

The Flyers have been stung by several tough losses this season.

Four defeats have been by three points or fewer, while three have come in the final six seconds.

One of those losses was a 63-60 decision Dec. 10 at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, when UMSL converted a three-point play with six seconds remaining to secure the game.

On Monday, Lewis turned around its fortunes by beating UMSL, the No. 11 ranked team in D-II, 82-64 in Romeoville. Frericks contributed 18 points and three assists in 33 minutes.

“That’s big for us,” Frericks said. “It gets our confidence going and it shows we can pull out big games. It did a lot for us. It’s tough losing a lot of games that we know that we should’ve won and that we know we had the capability to win.”

Although he made only one 3-pointer Monday against UMSL, Frericks scored seven points from the free-throw line, where he is shooting better than 90% this season.

“Taking what the game gives me is a big strength of mine, and I think I’ve been doing that pretty well,” Frericks said.

Keegan returning to Michigan: Michigan offensive lineman Trevor Keegan, who has been a fixture at left guard for the Wolverines the past two seasons, announced last week that he is returning to school next season rather than pursuing the NFL.

Keegan, a Crystal Lake South grad, was a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2022 while helping Michigan to the College Football Playoff for the second consecutive season. He has played in 30 career games, starting 23.

During the fall, Michigan ranked sixth nationally in scoring (40.4 points a game) while producing the fifth-best rushing offense with 238.9 yards a game.

Jakubowski joins Huskies: Huntley grad Taryn Jakubowski was added Wednesday to the NIU women’s soccer coaching staff as a volunteer assistant.

A standout player at Creighton University, Jakubowski earned Big East Conference All-Freshman Team honors in 2016 and was a first-team all-conference selection in 2018 and 2019. Most recently, she played professionally for Kuopion Palloseura in Finland’s First Division for the past two seasons.

“I feel grateful and honored to start the next adventure in my soccer journey and to be part of a program which has already established a respectable and upstanding culture,” Jakubowski told NIUHuskies.com.

NIU finished 6-8-4 last season under first-year head coach Michael O’Neill.

Whalen joins Dayton football: Greg Whalen, a Marian Central grad, was announced Jan. 12 as the new offensive coordinator for the Dayton football team.

Whalen spent last season as tight ends coach at Western Michigan of the Mid-American Conference. He joins the staff at Football Championship Subdivision Dayton under new head coach Trevor Andrews, a former defensive back for the Flyers.

Whalen played collegiately at D-III North Central College in Naperville as an offensive lineman.

• Barry Bottino writes about local college athletes for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at barryoncampus@hotmail.com and follow @BarryOnCampus on Twitter.