Former pro basketball player from Houma creates low-cost off-season league

Colin Campo, Houma Courier-Thibodaux Daily Comet
·4 min read

A Houma-based coach is starting an off-season basketball league to lower players' travel costs.

Nate Frye, 29, founder of The Den of Alpha Omega, is pulling together teams from seven parishes to form the Alpha Omega Development League. The league is for teens aged 9 to 14 and currently includes four teams from Houma, and three from Ascension Parish. Frye is looking to include Lafourche, St. James, St. Mary, St. Charles, and Assumption parishes as well. He said the goal is to have a lower cost league that keeps kids practicing in the off season.

Frye said for athletes who are not star players, finding a travel team can be tough. Also, the cost for travel basketball, such as booking flights to other states, can be a barrier to entry as well.

"For the kids that we get, like the intermediate and mid-level players, they would never have played travel basketball," Frye said. "So the issue is: one, they cannot find a team, so they've never experienced a travel season, and then the actual travel aspect of travel basketball - having to find flights, hotels and other expenses."

Tournaments will begin in May, and will finish by the end of the first week in August for a total of at least 14 games for each team - two guaranteed per weekend. It's $150 a month to compete and includes access to two one-hour training sessions a week.

Theron McCarthy, 44, of Houma, said the pricing is much cheaper than a normal basketball league. As he spoke, his son Luke McCarthy, 12, an eighth-grader at J. B. Martin, was shooting hoops with five other teens March 1 at The Den of Alpha Omega at 121 Praise Court in Gray. Luke will be competing in the Alpha Omega Development League.

McCarthy said a normal league can cost anywhere from $300 to $500 a month depending on how many games the athlete plays. Typically, the teams are scheduled to play two games, but could get knocked out of the tournament if they lose the first game. There's the travel expenses for his son, plus his own, so he can watch him compete.

"It's very cheap when you compare it to the other options," McCarthy said. "They have tournaments all over the place, every weekend."

Nate Frye, a professional basketball player from Houma, has opened "The Den of Alpha Omega" gym for area athletes.
Nate Frye, a professional basketball player from Houma, has opened "The Den of Alpha Omega" gym for area athletes.

He and fellow parent Bridget Breaux, 57, of Houma, said the skill level in high school basketball has surged in the past few years, and one thing all the top athletes have in common is that they are putting in the hours outside of team practices. This league, plus Frye's normal lessons, offer the time and expertise for their kids to put in the extra hours.

Mason Walker, 12, of Houma Jr. High, didn't make his school's basketball team this year. He was on the court practicing his skills alongside Luke. Today's practice was mostly focused on shooting. His father, Mark Walker, 41, said his son started this year, and his skill has already doubled, if not more.

"This gives him the chance to be more one-on-one with someone who has the skills to help them out with their skills," Walker said. "Just in three sessions, I've seen a difference in him."

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The session ended, but Mason and Landon Dupre, 12, weren't done. The two stayed 30 minutes late just playing basketball together while Frye closed the gym up. Mason said basketball was his favorite sport, and he wanted to make Houma Jr. High's team next year as the Center.

Frye, himself a pro basketball player, said that's always been his goal with Alpha Omega, to take those who weren't the star athletes and give them the opportunity to improve that they may not have otherwise had.

"I cater to the players and the coaches that were told you're not good enough," he said.

For those interested in joining the league, or for more information about The Den of Alpha Omega, Frye said he could be reached through his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nate.frye.18.

Athletes interested in competing can fill out a form here: https://form.jotform.com/240456364082152?fbclid=IwAR3vRmuru_i0Y2B6UZ7NtHnPEZdcEvQhKuhPaerQ55foa0ACt8FPkEzGQcI.

And coaches will fill out a form here https://form.jotform.com/240396250175152?fbclid=IwAR1WQ8ALNQ_XAXO0s35xO_UHzfuh9dI0JkOf2WRz8Pth4G_XGisS0sJ7oss for consideration.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Houma pro basketball player creates low-cost off-season league