AOTW: Barrow basketball star Alex Fruean is gaining Player of the Year buzz from up north

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Barrow is the northmost high school in the country. It is the home of the Whalers, the iconic blue football turf and potentially, the best basketball in the state.

Junior forward Alex Fruen is averaging 25.2 points per game while leading Barrow to big wins over bigger programs.

The Class 3A Whalers defeated the 4A Dimond Lynx 69-59 Friday for their first win over the program in 25 years led by Fruean’s 29 points.

Growing up in the basketball town of Barrow, Fruean has been guided by the likes of Kamaka Hepa, who brought the program it’s first state champion in 2015 before playing Division I basketball. Hepa is currently carving out a professional career overseas.

″He comes up [to Barrow] for camps and when he is free in the mornings. We go workout, just me and him. Going into the gym with another great player that played here and now in the pros, it is a blessing."

And Fruean may be the best player to come from The Top of the World since Hepa.

″I would believe so, yeah," Barrow basketball head coach Makana Ahgeak confirmed, who was a senior and teammates with Hepa his freshman season. “His talent is really up there and he works very hard at practice.”

And this may be the best Barrow team since then, who also captured a 3A title in 2018. Over the last two weeks, the Barrow Whalers have gone 5-1 in tournaments based in Anchorage, including an undefeated championship run at the Mountain City Invitational. Over the weekend, Barrow went 2-1 against 4A teams, going into overtime with state-favorite West Valley (6-0) in the Alaska Prep Shootout.

Like Hepa inspired Fruean, Fruean inspires the next generation of Barrow ballers.

“It has been awesome actually,” Fruean said of being an example in Utqiagvik, more than 300 miles above the Arctic Circle. “A lot kids look up to me, I try to be a good role model for them, I look up to other people. [I] see what they do and I just want to be that role model for kids to push themselves to work harder.”

Working hard on and off the court, Fruean says he currently holds a 4.0 GPA. Fruean and the Whalers will be back in Anchorage for a tournament at South Anchorage High School this weekend, as the best still may be yet to come.

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