New Kansas State Assistant Chester Frazier Leaves German Pro Team in Middle of Playoffs

by Ricky Doyle on Wed, May 23, 2012 at 3:06PM

Chester Frazier apparently wasn't concerned about burning any bridges.

The recently hired Kansas State basketball assistant left the German pro team he had been playing for in order to fly back to the United States. The only problem is that his team is in the midst of a semifinal playoff matchup, according to Sportando.net.

Frazier was the starting point guard for s.Oliver Baskets of the German Bundesliga, posting 14 points and five rebounds in the first game of their playoff series with Ratiopharm Ulm. Yet, despite helping to guide the club to the postseason, Frazier reportedly flew back to the U.S. on Wednesday to get started in his new position at K-State.

"We are disappointed that Chester Frazier has decided to leave the s.Oliver Baskets at this crucial stage of the season," managing director Jochen Bähr said in a statement that was later translated into English. "At the time of his commitment, it was not clear that we would get this far in the playoffs. We had agreed with Chester that he will remain at least until the end of the semifinal series against Ulm. Why he has decided to go back now already to the U.S., he has not informed us."

Frazier was hired by his former college coach, Bruce Weber, last week. The point guard played under Weber for four seasons at Illinois from 2005-09. His sophomore year proved to be his most impressive, as he averaged 7.2 points, 4.5 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Frazier cited his passion for playing basketball as his reasoning for playing overseas, so it's a bit surprising to see him leave his German team mid-playoffs.

Weber encouraged Frazier to stay, according to DraftExpress.com's Jonathan Givony, but Frazier admitted in March that he always intended to get back into coaching.

Who knew it'd be so soon?

A hat tip to Yahoo! Sports' The Dagger blog for pointing this story out.