Joliet's Frain heading to IPFW

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He's 6 feet 5 and athletic.

An inviting target for quarterbacks in the Joliet football program, you might surmise.

Indeed, Corey Frain was a wide receiver and tight end in football his first two years as a Steelman. But he also was an outstanding volleyball player, a contributing member of the varsity already as a sophomore, and he recognized that indeed was his calling.

After this season, Frain will be moving on to play NCAA Division I volleyball at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, an NCAA Final Four team the last couple of seasons.

"I'm glad this day is here," the senior middle hitter said Tuesday after the letter-of-intent signing ceremony in his honor at Joliet Central. "I was looking forward to getting this done and concentrating on the rest of my senior year."

The Steelmen are 10-3, with the meat of the season remaining.

"So far I'm pretty satisfied with how our team is doing," he said. "But it definitely would be cool to be able to say my team went downstate for volleyball my senior year. If we can do that, that would be some serious bragging rights."

Frain also competes with Ultimate in club volleyball. In fact, he will be playing with Ultimate in the Junior Olympics at Salt Lake City this summer.

He has been playing volleyball year-round since his sophomore year and feels prepared for the challenges that lie ahead in college.

"The IUPU Fort Wayne program is really strong," he said. "I've seen the level they play at, and I think I can play there if I can fine-tune my abilities.

"Right now I'm working on my passing because I'm a middle, and middles are only meant to hit. Most likely in college I'll be doing some passing, so I've been working on that in practice."

"They might swing Corey outside in college," JT first-year coach Jason Herrmann said. "They like middles like him because he is a versatile player. He can be multi-positional on the collegiate level."

Herrmann, who coached at Plainfield Central previous to Joliet, student taught at Sandburg early this decade. He paid Frain perhaps the ultimate compliment.

"I coached Drew Cunningham at Sandburg and actually worked with him a little in club, too," he said. "Drew went on and played at Pacific. He had held the state record for kills.

"Well, Corey reminds me of him. He's our go-to guy, the one who will put the ball away anytime you ask him."

Herrmann said he is using Frain "in the back row more now so he can work more on his total game. I want him to be a good back-row attacker, work on the serve-receive and on defense.

"Of course, we're still going to run our offense through him from the get-go. If we get the middle going, that opens up the game for everyone else."

An Elwood resident, Frain also is a good student. He said he plans to study chemistry and perhaps major in it.

He had Clarke College, St. Ambrose and Quincy on his list of potential colleges. But the official visit to Fort Wayne sold him.

"The campus was really nice and everyone there was very helpful, including the teachers," he said. "Athletically and academically, it seemed like the right place for me."