Frias’ Long, Emotional Trek Led Him to K-State
Aug 08, 2022 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Anthony Frias II wears a gray K-State t-shirt with a large purple Powercat across the torso and he slides off a black backpack bearing a white Powercat at the top. He says that he wishes he would've sported his 21 SAVAGE t-shirt that he wore the previous day. He explains the 21 SAVAGE t-shirt is given by the K-State strength and conditioning staff only to those players who can run 21 miles-per-hour.
Anthony, who is listed at 5-foot-10 and 210 pounds, has barrels for legs and looks like the kind of guy who could drag a tackler to Topeka. The 20-year-old native of Turlock, California, has a deep bronze tan and black hair forms a neatly trimmed goatee that when he smiles big looks like curtains parting. A sophomore transfer from Modesto (Calif.) Junior College, Anthony has three years to play four at K-State. He looks at the football field from the press box, which he visited once before while on his official visit on May 6. He pauses for a moment and grins at the view as sunlight bounces off the end zones.
"My speed isn't bad, it's good," he begins. "If I get loose, I think I'll take it. I don't think anybody will really catch me. My second week here I got the 21 SAVAGE t-shirt that we wear. Maybe I don't look as fast because I'm a bigger guy or my strides are a little longer.
"I was actually ninth in the nation when I ran a 4:39 mile at age 13. I went to Junior Olympics in Texas and Michigan and ran inside big stadiums, packed stadiums, so it's something I've been around before. I'm going to attack each day and be ready for it."
About three months have passed since Anthony turned heads on social media. There's a photo of his family and friends — so much family, 30 people? Forty? — grouped together in K-State attire and holding three large purple Powercat flags at his going away party in Turlock in late May. Everyone met at Sharky's Family Billiards & Pizza to celebrate his grand achievement and wish him well during his journey at K-State. Family traveled in from Arizona and San Diego. Folks who've known him since he was a baby in Le Grand, California, were there as well.
Anthony and Sabrina Frias were so proud of their son, as was everyone in their large, loving family. Sabrina's grandparents had 18 children. Just about everyone purchased a large Powercat flag to hang in front of their home. Family and friends began gobbling up K-State t-shirts and flags when Anthony committed to K-State head coach Chris Klieman at the end of his official visit to Manhattan.
It seemed like it had been forever since the Frias family began praying for an opportunity for Anthony to play at the Football Bowl Subdivision level. Other smaller schools had inquired about his talents — "I'm telling you, we were fighting for crumbs," his father says — but despite Anthony's best efforts, nothing had materialized from football camps, or even an invitation to watch a practice at Nevada.
Now, sitting with Klieman, Anthony and Sabrina saw their son beam like never before.
"Anthony said, 'I want you to know I'm committing to you right now. I'm committing to K-State," his father remembers.
"Anthony is a man of his word," Sabrina says. "We saw him stand up and say to Coach Klieman, 'When I walk out of here, I'm not talking to anyone. I'm not going on any visits.' Schools tried calling when we got home, and Anthony did absolutely nothing. We prepared for the move.
"We can't be any happier where he is today."
• • •
In 2002, Anthony and Sabrina were teen parents living in their hometown of Le Grand, California, an agriculture, and farming community of about 1,500 people, and they had no idea the joy their son would bring to their lives and the lives of so many others on and off the football field. Anthony and Sabrina graduated high school and held tiny Anthony in their arms. When Anthony was 10 years old, the family moved 50 minutes northwest to Turlock. Anthony's middle school had 2,000 students.
Anthony was 7 when his father bought him a ladder drill for football. Anthony quickly fell in love with football. His cousin, Angel Serena, was two years older and played football. Anthony wanted to be like him.
"We didn't know Anthony was going to be good at football at all," his father says. "Anthony scored like 10 touchdowns his first game. It was crazy. They couldn't tackle him and couldn't catch him. That's when Anthony Frias II the football player was born."
When Anthony was 9, he tweaked his knee and missed almost his entire season only to return for the championship game. He scored all 20 of his team's points in a 20-19 victory. At age 10, he participated in the Antoine Cason Camp in San Diego. Darren Sproles was a camp counselor. Anthony won camp MVP.
Soon after Anthony reached Turlock High School, he was the man. Turlock planned its calendar around fall Friday night lights. High School football was the epicenter of the town of 70,000 people. Anthony's family and friends packed tightly into the stands. There were so many friends and family members that they formed their own section.
Throughout Anthony's childhood, his father had accumulated equipment to help his son. He purchased a squat rack, a leg press, dumbbells, benches, cones and hurdles. The summer prior to Anthony's senior season, father and son lifted weights together. Anthony returned for his senior season a changed young man. He had muscles he never knew he had. He became a first team all-league running back and team MVP.
Once, a police officer came to the house. Anthony was doing two-a-day workouts.
"Our neighbor's house had been shaking at 2 a.m.," Sabrina says. "Anthony was pumping iron. We apologized to our neighbors. They said they felt all the weight that he had dropped on the floor."
When Anthony was a child, his parents both earned their college degrees and master's degrees and became academic counselors. In high school, they encouraged Anthony in dual-enrollment courses. Anthony earned 45 units of college credits in high school. He completed his prerequisites for the registered nurse program. He had a perfect 4.0 GPA. He was Academic Student Body President.
Prior to his senior season, Anthony and his father attended football camps at University of California, San Diego State, Nevada, and Arizona State. They even traveled to attend back-to-back camps at Harvard and Yale.
"Every time we went to those camps," his father says, "Anthony passed the eyeball test, but no offers came."
During his standout senior season — more crickets from FBS schools.
"He was on another level," his father says. "I thought he was going to get an offer for sure. We were shocked and sad."
Enter Modesto Junior College. Anthony served as athletic counselor at Modesto. He told his son, "If you're good, they'll find you."
Anthony began last season at Modesto as the fifth running back on the depth chart.
In Modesto's first game, Anthony came onto the field in the second half. He rushed for 160 yards and three touchdowns.
He was fifth on the depth chart no longer.
• • •
"You'll find out Anthony has a relentless work ethic," begins Rusty Stivers, head coach at Modesto Junior College. "He's addicted to working out and puts all his time and effort to improving his performance. He's very uncommon in the way that he approaches his body and football."
Anthony earned 2021 all-region and all-conference honors after rushing for 851 yards and 17 touchdowns to go along with 13 receptions for 127 yards last season. He led all California junior college players in rushing touchdowns and ranked ninth in rushing yards.
"When you go to junior college, it's honestly your last chance," Anthony says. "If you don't make it there, you aren't good enough. I kept believing in myself and my family believed in me as well."
Anthony proved invaluable for Modesto.
"The first thing that made a difference between our running backs was pass protection," Stivers says. "We could cheat and almost use Anthony as a tackle because he was so powerful. Secondly, he caught the ball really well coming out of the backfield. He had a good feel for getting open. That was big. The one thing he always wanted to do was improve his topline speed, but in the process, he continued to get faster and extremely efficient in between the tackles and working with blocking schemes.
"Behind the scenes, he's going to become a coach, faculty, and staff favorite because he truly is old-school blue collar. He's not going to skip any reps. He's going to be there early and do everything right. I know that's the K-State way. He's going to impress a lot of people."
Anthony impressed K-State running backs coach Brian Anderson.
One day in late April, Stivers approached Anthony while he was training on the field at Modesto.
"Coach said, 'Has K-State called you?'" Anthony says. "I had no relationship with K-State at the time. Coach said that they just had a long phone call talking about me. Coach said, 'Just keep your phone ready.'"
Anderson called Anthony on April 25. Anthony and his father were working out inside their garage. Anderson said that he wanted to fly down and watch Anthony run and perform drills on the Modesto football field.
"When Anthony hung up the phone, we were jumping in the garage," his father says. "It was just one of those moments. It was a dream come true for him to get that call. I get emotional thinking about it. Coach Anderson arrived the next week. He came into my office, and he was a cool dude and smooth. I liked him right away. He said that he was going to go back to Manhattan and talk to some people.
"Less than two hours later, we got a call from K-State wondering if we could take an official visit to Manhattan that Thursday."
• • •
People talk about K-State, and they talk about family and, well, when you join the K-State family — the K-State family responds. That's what Anthony already thought he knew, but more fully discovered when he publicized his K-State commitment on social media. He had to silence his cell phone. It was blowing up. He tried to respond to congratulatory notes on Twitter and Instagram, but the well wishes were pouring in much too fast — an endless stream of purple love flowing across his cell phone.
The Frias family arrived in Manhattan on June 3. Summer workouts began June 6. Anthony and Sabrina were so busy purchasing the necessities for their son's apartment that they had little time to pause and allow the emotions of Anthony being 1,713 miles from home really settle in until the final goodbyes between mother, father, and son.
And now, it's football 24-7. Summer workouts flew by and the annual parade of helmets and shoulder pads and stretching and wind sprints and offense and defense and whistle shrills fill the air during fall camp at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Klieman has said all along that the backup running back spot is unsettled and that he's looking for someone to emerge, hopefully during fall camp. Other candidates to play behind Consensus All-American Deuce Vaughn include 6-foot-1, 212-pound redshirt freshman DJ Giddens of Junction City; Colby native Jordan Schippers, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound junior transfer from Western Illinois; Lenexa native La'James White, a 5-foot-7, 185-pound freshman transfer from Air Force; and 5-foot-8, 192-pound true freshman Evan Cantu from Wichita.
"Having that redshirt year is huge, but three years of eligibility is definitely great," Anthony says. "I could really make an impact at K-State. It's almost like I'm playing my full career here. To be here three or four years, that's going to be huge and just make me a better player. I'm excited.
"I think I was brought in to be more of a power back. Not that Deuce Vaughn can't do that. Everybody is unique in their own way. Deuce is that speed back and can make everybody miss and he's so fast and so great. I definitely think my play can get me into the rotation and take some load off of him whenever he needs it or when we get a couple hard downs like third-and-3. Maybe I can get in and pound it a little bit. Deuce is going to make me a better back. He's going to teach me, and I can learn from him. He's the top running back in the country and I embrace that. I get to come to K-State and train under the best running back in the country. I'm definitely excited for that."
He pauses.
"Being here and playing football lets me know this is something I was born to do," he says. "This is what I've wanted the past 10 years. I have the confidence and the strength to be out here and just continue to play football. The guys around me in the locker room and on the field have definitely made the transition a lot easier. This is a great atmosphere here. I love it."
The Frias family and friends will experience the K-State gameday experience firsthand when the Wildcats open the 2022 season against South Dakota on September 3. So far, they've purchased about 40 tickets for the game. The Frias family and friends are taking over section 23. The plan is to bring a 10-car caravan from Turlock to Manhattan. Although most hotels were sold out far in advance, they've found Airbnbs across the area.
"It's hard that Anthony is at K-State and we're in California, but we got what we always wanted, and that's a team that wants Anthony, and that loves Anthony for Anthony," Sabrina says. "We felt that from Coach Klieman all the way down. It calms us. We know Anthony is being taken care of. He's in good hands, but man, we had our boy with us for 20 years, and we're a very close family, so there were definitely some tears. We reflect on the days he and his dad shared working out in the garage and just trusting the process. It's all worth it."
Anthony rises from his seat inside the press box suite, swings his backpack over his shoulder, and steals another glance at the football field before heading down the elevator and out into the hot summer air.
"Going out onto the field for that first game is going to be amazing," he says. "I might even get emotional thinking about it sometimes. When I walk out there, I'm definitely going to take a second to breathe it in and soak it up and see that stadium packed and all the love. Everybody has a different road. This road is definitely sometimes emotional.
"When I go out there, I'm going to think: 'Man, we're finally here.'"
Anthony Frias II wears a gray K-State t-shirt with a large purple Powercat across the torso and he slides off a black backpack bearing a white Powercat at the top. He says that he wishes he would've sported his 21 SAVAGE t-shirt that he wore the previous day. He explains the 21 SAVAGE t-shirt is given by the K-State strength and conditioning staff only to those players who can run 21 miles-per-hour.
Anthony, who is listed at 5-foot-10 and 210 pounds, has barrels for legs and looks like the kind of guy who could drag a tackler to Topeka. The 20-year-old native of Turlock, California, has a deep bronze tan and black hair forms a neatly trimmed goatee that when he smiles big looks like curtains parting. A sophomore transfer from Modesto (Calif.) Junior College, Anthony has three years to play four at K-State. He looks at the football field from the press box, which he visited once before while on his official visit on May 6. He pauses for a moment and grins at the view as sunlight bounces off the end zones.
"My speed isn't bad, it's good," he begins. "If I get loose, I think I'll take it. I don't think anybody will really catch me. My second week here I got the 21 SAVAGE t-shirt that we wear. Maybe I don't look as fast because I'm a bigger guy or my strides are a little longer.
"I was actually ninth in the nation when I ran a 4:39 mile at age 13. I went to Junior Olympics in Texas and Michigan and ran inside big stadiums, packed stadiums, so it's something I've been around before. I'm going to attack each day and be ready for it."
About three months have passed since Anthony turned heads on social media. There's a photo of his family and friends — so much family, 30 people? Forty? — grouped together in K-State attire and holding three large purple Powercat flags at his going away party in Turlock in late May. Everyone met at Sharky's Family Billiards & Pizza to celebrate his grand achievement and wish him well during his journey at K-State. Family traveled in from Arizona and San Diego. Folks who've known him since he was a baby in Le Grand, California, were there as well.
— Anthony Frias (@afrias116) May 30, 2022"That's where I come from — a family that's big on family," Anthony says.
Anthony and Sabrina Frias were so proud of their son, as was everyone in their large, loving family. Sabrina's grandparents had 18 children. Just about everyone purchased a large Powercat flag to hang in front of their home. Family and friends began gobbling up K-State t-shirts and flags when Anthony committed to K-State head coach Chris Klieman at the end of his official visit to Manhattan.
It seemed like it had been forever since the Frias family began praying for an opportunity for Anthony to play at the Football Bowl Subdivision level. Other smaller schools had inquired about his talents — "I'm telling you, we were fighting for crumbs," his father says — but despite Anthony's best efforts, nothing had materialized from football camps, or even an invitation to watch a practice at Nevada.
Now, sitting with Klieman, Anthony and Sabrina saw their son beam like never before.
"Anthony said, 'I want you to know I'm committing to you right now. I'm committing to K-State," his father remembers.
"Anthony is a man of his word," Sabrina says. "We saw him stand up and say to Coach Klieman, 'When I walk out of here, I'm not talking to anyone. I'm not going on any visits.' Schools tried calling when we got home, and Anthony did absolutely nothing. We prepared for the move.
"We can't be any happier where he is today."
• • •
In 2002, Anthony and Sabrina were teen parents living in their hometown of Le Grand, California, an agriculture, and farming community of about 1,500 people, and they had no idea the joy their son would bring to their lives and the lives of so many others on and off the football field. Anthony and Sabrina graduated high school and held tiny Anthony in their arms. When Anthony was 10 years old, the family moved 50 minutes northwest to Turlock. Anthony's middle school had 2,000 students.
Anthony was 7 when his father bought him a ladder drill for football. Anthony quickly fell in love with football. His cousin, Angel Serena, was two years older and played football. Anthony wanted to be like him.
"We didn't know Anthony was going to be good at football at all," his father says. "Anthony scored like 10 touchdowns his first game. It was crazy. They couldn't tackle him and couldn't catch him. That's when Anthony Frias II the football player was born."
When Anthony was 9, he tweaked his knee and missed almost his entire season only to return for the championship game. He scored all 20 of his team's points in a 20-19 victory. At age 10, he participated in the Antoine Cason Camp in San Diego. Darren Sproles was a camp counselor. Anthony won camp MVP.
Soon after Anthony reached Turlock High School, he was the man. Turlock planned its calendar around fall Friday night lights. High School football was the epicenter of the town of 70,000 people. Anthony's family and friends packed tightly into the stands. There were so many friends and family members that they formed their own section.
Throughout Anthony's childhood, his father had accumulated equipment to help his son. He purchased a squat rack, a leg press, dumbbells, benches, cones and hurdles. The summer prior to Anthony's senior season, father and son lifted weights together. Anthony returned for his senior season a changed young man. He had muscles he never knew he had. He became a first team all-league running back and team MVP.
Once, a police officer came to the house. Anthony was doing two-a-day workouts.
"Our neighbor's house had been shaking at 2 a.m.," Sabrina says. "Anthony was pumping iron. We apologized to our neighbors. They said they felt all the weight that he had dropped on the floor."
When Anthony was a child, his parents both earned their college degrees and master's degrees and became academic counselors. In high school, they encouraged Anthony in dual-enrollment courses. Anthony earned 45 units of college credits in high school. He completed his prerequisites for the registered nurse program. He had a perfect 4.0 GPA. He was Academic Student Body President.
Prior to his senior season, Anthony and his father attended football camps at University of California, San Diego State, Nevada, and Arizona State. They even traveled to attend back-to-back camps at Harvard and Yale.
"Every time we went to those camps," his father says, "Anthony passed the eyeball test, but no offers came."
During his standout senior season — more crickets from FBS schools.
"He was on another level," his father says. "I thought he was going to get an offer for sure. We were shocked and sad."
Enter Modesto Junior College. Anthony served as athletic counselor at Modesto. He told his son, "If you're good, they'll find you."
Anthony began last season at Modesto as the fifth running back on the depth chart.
In Modesto's first game, Anthony came onto the field in the second half. He rushed for 160 yards and three touchdowns.
He was fifth on the depth chart no longer.
• • •
"You'll find out Anthony has a relentless work ethic," begins Rusty Stivers, head coach at Modesto Junior College. "He's addicted to working out and puts all his time and effort to improving his performance. He's very uncommon in the way that he approaches his body and football."
Anthony earned 2021 all-region and all-conference honors after rushing for 851 yards and 17 touchdowns to go along with 13 receptions for 127 yards last season. He led all California junior college players in rushing touchdowns and ranked ninth in rushing yards.
"When you go to junior college, it's honestly your last chance," Anthony says. "If you don't make it there, you aren't good enough. I kept believing in myself and my family believed in me as well."
Anthony proved invaluable for Modesto.
"The first thing that made a difference between our running backs was pass protection," Stivers says. "We could cheat and almost use Anthony as a tackle because he was so powerful. Secondly, he caught the ball really well coming out of the backfield. He had a good feel for getting open. That was big. The one thing he always wanted to do was improve his topline speed, but in the process, he continued to get faster and extremely efficient in between the tackles and working with blocking schemes.
"Behind the scenes, he's going to become a coach, faculty, and staff favorite because he truly is old-school blue collar. He's not going to skip any reps. He's going to be there early and do everything right. I know that's the K-State way. He's going to impress a lot of people."
Anthony impressed K-State running backs coach Brian Anderson.
One day in late April, Stivers approached Anthony while he was training on the field at Modesto.
"Coach said, 'Has K-State called you?'" Anthony says. "I had no relationship with K-State at the time. Coach said that they just had a long phone call talking about me. Coach said, 'Just keep your phone ready.'"
Anderson called Anthony on April 25. Anthony and his father were working out inside their garage. Anderson said that he wanted to fly down and watch Anthony run and perform drills on the Modesto football field.
"When Anthony hung up the phone, we were jumping in the garage," his father says. "It was just one of those moments. It was a dream come true for him to get that call. I get emotional thinking about it. Coach Anderson arrived the next week. He came into my office, and he was a cool dude and smooth. I liked him right away. He said that he was going to go back to Manhattan and talk to some people.
"Less than two hours later, we got a call from K-State wondering if we could take an official visit to Manhattan that Thursday."
• • •
People talk about K-State, and they talk about family and, well, when you join the K-State family — the K-State family responds. That's what Anthony already thought he knew, but more fully discovered when he publicized his K-State commitment on social media. He had to silence his cell phone. It was blowing up. He tried to respond to congratulatory notes on Twitter and Instagram, but the well wishes were pouring in much too fast — an endless stream of purple love flowing across his cell phone.
"You just felt that K-State love, that family love," Anthony says, "and it's something I'll never forget. I'd never felt anything like that before."#AGTG After An Amazing Official Visit And Hospitality By @CoachAnderson15, @CoachBufordJ, @ckleincat7, And @CoachKli, I Am Blessed To Receive A Power 5 Offer And Will Be Committing To @KStateFB!!! Thank You God So Much For This Opportunity‼️ #EMAW @Big12Conference @JUCOFFrenzy pic.twitter.com/KgSiGiTUc8
— Anthony Frias II (@afrias_20) May 8, 2022
The Frias family arrived in Manhattan on June 3. Summer workouts began June 6. Anthony and Sabrina were so busy purchasing the necessities for their son's apartment that they had little time to pause and allow the emotions of Anthony being 1,713 miles from home really settle in until the final goodbyes between mother, father, and son.
And now, it's football 24-7. Summer workouts flew by and the annual parade of helmets and shoulder pads and stretching and wind sprints and offense and defense and whistle shrills fill the air during fall camp at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Klieman has said all along that the backup running back spot is unsettled and that he's looking for someone to emerge, hopefully during fall camp. Other candidates to play behind Consensus All-American Deuce Vaughn include 6-foot-1, 212-pound redshirt freshman DJ Giddens of Junction City; Colby native Jordan Schippers, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound junior transfer from Western Illinois; Lenexa native La'James White, a 5-foot-7, 185-pound freshman transfer from Air Force; and 5-foot-8, 192-pound true freshman Evan Cantu from Wichita.
"Having that redshirt year is huge, but three years of eligibility is definitely great," Anthony says. "I could really make an impact at K-State. It's almost like I'm playing my full career here. To be here three or four years, that's going to be huge and just make me a better player. I'm excited.
"I think I was brought in to be more of a power back. Not that Deuce Vaughn can't do that. Everybody is unique in their own way. Deuce is that speed back and can make everybody miss and he's so fast and so great. I definitely think my play can get me into the rotation and take some load off of him whenever he needs it or when we get a couple hard downs like third-and-3. Maybe I can get in and pound it a little bit. Deuce is going to make me a better back. He's going to teach me, and I can learn from him. He's the top running back in the country and I embrace that. I get to come to K-State and train under the best running back in the country. I'm definitely excited for that."
He pauses.
"Being here and playing football lets me know this is something I was born to do," he says. "This is what I've wanted the past 10 years. I have the confidence and the strength to be out here and just continue to play football. The guys around me in the locker room and on the field have definitely made the transition a lot easier. This is a great atmosphere here. I love it."
The Frias family and friends will experience the K-State gameday experience firsthand when the Wildcats open the 2022 season against South Dakota on September 3. So far, they've purchased about 40 tickets for the game. The Frias family and friends are taking over section 23. The plan is to bring a 10-car caravan from Turlock to Manhattan. Although most hotels were sold out far in advance, they've found Airbnbs across the area.
"It's hard that Anthony is at K-State and we're in California, but we got what we always wanted, and that's a team that wants Anthony, and that loves Anthony for Anthony," Sabrina says. "We felt that from Coach Klieman all the way down. It calms us. We know Anthony is being taken care of. He's in good hands, but man, we had our boy with us for 20 years, and we're a very close family, so there were definitely some tears. We reflect on the days he and his dad shared working out in the garage and just trusting the process. It's all worth it."
Anthony rises from his seat inside the press box suite, swings his backpack over his shoulder, and steals another glance at the football field before heading down the elevator and out into the hot summer air.
"Going out onto the field for that first game is going to be amazing," he says. "I might even get emotional thinking about it sometimes. When I walk out there, I'm definitely going to take a second to breathe it in and soak it up and see that stadium packed and all the love. Everybody has a different road. This road is definitely sometimes emotional.
"When I go out there, I'm going to think: 'Man, we're finally here.'"
Players Mentioned
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