Heidelberg Athletics Hall of Fame
If there was one item that Marv Frye stood head and shoulders above the rest, it was speed. He used that item to excel in athletics at Heidelberg College before graduating in 1951.
But his talents were not limited to the playing field. He has become one of the most successful coaches in the country.
His precise manner in building a program was evident while at Heidelberg when his detailed scouting reports were more than just notes. They were detailed individual traits of the opposition that enabled the coaching staff at Heidelberg to know every tendency of the team it was about to play.
Frye, who was the senior class officer at Heidelberg College, is an excellent student of the game.
Lettering in basketball and football, he would also move into the coaching ranks at Heidelberg as well as teaching. Later his talents moved to Ohio Wesleyan University where he would continue to be a successful coach for football, basketball, track, and cross country.
He has gained the respect of coaches from throughout the country for his ability to build programs from the grounds up that are successful.
During his playing days with the Student Princes, Frye used his speed and ball handling techniques to confuse the opposition on the Columbian Gym hardwood.
With head coach Paul Hoernemann in charge, the Student Princes would finish 15-3 in 1950, including a victory over the Alumni before returning for a 10-8 mark in 1951. Following graduation Frye returned to Heidelberg to serve as the head basketball coach from 1956 through 1960.
Frye is a sterling example of the adage that good things come to those who wait. Coaching for 31 years at Ohio Wesleyan in cross country and track, he had many memorable events, but his teams had never won a conference crown.
That ended in 1989 when the bishops took the North Coast Athletic Conference indoor title. Since that first crown, the conference has found it very difficult to halt the surge of the Bishops who won the indoor title in 1990 before finishing in the runner-up spot in 1991.
Frye's 1989 indoor team lost the conference crown on the final race, but the veteran coach had his team up in 1990 when it finished first.
Since going to Ohio Wesleyan, Frye has coached numerous All-Americans. Frye's determination and dedication to athletics has rubbed off on those around him.
It all began on the campus of Heidelberg College in 1947 as a student before Hoernemann got Frye to return and assist him in football and basketball. Frye became Hoernemann's right hand man.
Today, Frye continues that drive for excellence as a highly successful coach.
(This profile appeared in the Hall of Fame Banquet program.)
