He awoke before school in the morning back in Illinois and took as many shots as possible. When he came to Carolina, he worked to become quicker and stronger.

But after two injury-filled seasons, Frasor can honestly say he has never worked so hard since tearing a ligament in his knee last season.

He was just recently released to play again. To get to this point, he's had to go through virtual torture at times.

"It wasn't fun," Frasor said. "You wake up in the morning and go to therapy, just bending your knee. You could barely walk up the stairs back to your room when you got back to the house. After that, when they were practicing, you were either in the pool or lifting weights. It's just more to it.

"Guys would come in and get their workout done, and I would still be there, putting in extra time to get back on their level."

Frasor said the things he did went well beyond what a person off the street might do in rehabilitating after ligament surgery.

"I'm tougher," Frasor said. "I've done a lot of crazy rehab stuff a lot of people would not have to do. There is one circuit where I would have to ride a bike with no seat, no handlebars, just standing.

"Right after that I would have to go to a ladder, then I would do defensive slides, then I would run on a trampoline. And I would do that three or four times."

He says the leg that underwent surgery has been worked so hard it might actually be stronger than the other at this point, but that did not keep Frasor from being nervous when he walked on the court to play in the team's annual pickup games last week for the first time this summer.

"Last week, Monday was the first day I played five-on-five," Frasor said. "At first I was a little timid, a little hesitant to make a quick move or something like that. But once I got into the flow of the game and played a couple of games, then I felt confident in doing things I've been doing my whole life.

"I'm not where I want to be, but I can do things. I'm not hesitant now."

A year ago, Frasor was coming off a pair of foot injuries that kept him on the bench for much of his sophomore year. Just about the time he began to regain his confidence in his shot, he tore the knee ligament and went to the bench again. Now he must start fresh in trying to regain what was once a strong and sure jump shot.

"We played the other day," fellow senior Marcus Ginyard said. "He missed five shots in a row. I kept trying to get a couple of assists at the end of the game. I kept going back to him, kept going back to him, kept going back to him. He kept missing.

"But Bobby has done a great job this summer. It has been amazing to see his recovery. I'm very, very excited to get him back on the court and play with him again."

Frasor said that he will spend the rest of this summer working hard to find his rhythm on his jump shot as well as the rest of his game.

"There is still a lot of time left in the off-season," Frasor said.

Roommate Tyler Hansbrough said that Frasor has taken a new view of his health and what he can do to increase his odds of staying healthy.

"I know how hard Bobby has worked this whole summer," Hansbrough said. "He's done a lot of things. He's changed his body. He's really progressed. He's changed his diet. He eats with me sometimes."

Frasor said that he hopes the payoff is the national title that has eluded this group of seniors so far.

"I love this game," Frasor said. "I've done things differently. I've taken care of my body more. I'm stretching more so I can prevent any injuries, knock on wood. I'm looking for next year to be injury-free, be my best season here at Carolina and hopefully go out on a high note with a championship. That would make every injury, every little thing that has happened to me erased if I can get a ring."