Longtime Troy boys basketball coach Gary Fralick retires

It was a meeting full of surprise, tears, hugs and reminiscing at Troy High School on Tuesday. 

But when an era that spanned nearly 40 years ends, anything less couldn’t have been expected.

After nearly 40 years of serving as a coach for Troy’s boys basketball program, including the last 33 years as head coach, Gary Fralick informed his team that he is retiring from the program. 

Fralick said it’s possible he’ll still be around here and there as a volunteer assistant, but he told his players this was it as head coach, ending an overall coaching career that spanned 54 years in the Metro Detroit area. 

“There was a lot of surprise faces and a little bit of crying by the players and probably myself,” Fralick said. “But everyone was responsive to it and understood. I just talked about how long I’d been there and how long I’ve enjoyed it and how much it’s meant to me. It was a little emotional. I was just glad I was able to get the guys together and be able to tell them in person.”

In January, Fralick became the 30th coach in state history to reach the 500-win milestone. He coached former NBA players James Young in the early 2000s and guided Troy to a Division 1 state quarterfinal appearance in 2017. 

The father-in-law of Michigan State women’s head coach Robyn Fralick, Gary Fralick in the 1990s also got to coach his two sons, Gary Jr. and Tim. 

Fralick said he officially made the decision to step away from the program earlier in the week after presiding over summer games and practices.

“I just wanted to go through a summer program and make up my mind after summer league,” Fralick said. “The more I was coaching in the summer league, the more things I was missing with the grandkids and Michigan State with my daughter-in-law. I just felt it was time to give it up to somebody else.”

The official start of basketball season isn’t until November, so Troy will have some time to find a replacement. But trying to fill the shoes of a community lynchpin and a coach who was inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame last September obviously won’t be easy.

“It’s been a difficult decision, but now that I’ve made it I’m at peace with it,” Fralick said. “I’m quite at peace with it. I think by retiring now, it gives the school two full months to hire somebody.”

Before coaching at Troy, Fralick was the head coach at Redford Thurston High School and then at Royal Oak Kimball. 

Last season, Troy beat Troy Athens in a Division 1 district semifinal to give Fralick his 501st career win before Troy’s season ended with a loss to Royal Oak in the district final. 

Keith Dunlap is a freelance writer.

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Longtime Troy boys basketball coach Gary Fralick retires