But his father is very pleased.

Frazier will serve as Leesville Road’s head coach for men’s basketball, succeeding Roderic Brewington. He will also be an assistant football coach for The Pride, working with receivers under head coach Chad Smothers.

The news delighted Frazier’s father, 2012 NCHSAA Toby Webb Men’s Coach of the Year winner Terry Frazier, who recently announced his retirement after almost 40 years as a football, basketball and soccer coach at Roanoke Rapids.

“He’s excited about me getting this opportunity in football,” said Frazier, who played soccer and basketball on his father’s teams. “Football is something that always intrigued me, and I’m excited to finally get a chance to do it. There’s not better place to do it than Leesville Road.”

A physical education teacher at Northwood, Frazier will work in the Alternative Learning Center at Leesville Road.

“I’m a teacher first,” Frazier said. “I love coaching, but what I really enjoy is education and working with kids. This will be an exciting opportunity to try a different role.”

Leesville Road has scheduled a “Meet the Coach” session for players and other students for 6 p.m. Monday at the high school.

Frazier coached soccer and basketball for six years at Northwood and, in his short tenure, built two highly successful programs. He led both teams to NCHSAA 2-A state finals in 2009.

Overall, Frazier’s men’s basketball teams mounted a cumulative record of 133-39, winning three straight sectional titles in 2009-10-11 and reaching the NCHSAA 2-A championship final in both 2009 and 2011. He earned Carolina-12 Coach of the Year honors each of the last two years.

Brewington’s 2011-12 team ended up 10-13 overall and in the lower half of the Cap-8 Conference standings at 6-9.

“We are excited to have Russ Frazier joining our staff and we are confident he is the right choice to meet the challenges of moving our basketball program forward,” Leesville Road athletic director Jack Rogers said in a prepared statement. “He has a proven track record of success that we believe he can take our basketball program to the next level.”

Frazier said he measured success in more than “just wins and losses.”

“We’ve had a lot of success at Northwood, but the memories I cherish the most are of the players, the students, the ‘Northwood Nuthouse’ and the atmosphere we all worked to create,” said Frazier, ticking off the names of every senior basketball and soccer player. “I wish everyone at Northwood nothing but success.”

“He believes what our programs here at Leesville are all about; making our students not just better athletes, but better people on and off the court,” said Rogers,

Frazier, who resides in Apex with his wife Monica and 13-month-old daughter Katie in Apex, noted the move means less commuting time. Completion of I-540 eventually should shorten his drive, and his wife works in the Research Triangle Park.

“Door to door, it’s like 5 minutes for my wife from our house to her work,” he said.