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In the history of the Cerritos College men's basketball program, they have produced a long list of successful big men. But on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, the program lost one of their original big men, as Al Fruhwirth, 67, passed away in his sleep. Fruhwirth played for the Falcons from 1972-74 and still ranks as one of the college's all-time leading scorers. In his sophomore season of 1973-74, Fruhwirth averaged 25.0 points a game, which is still a school record, while he was named All-State and the South Coast Conference Player of the Year. Standing at 6-foot-8, Fruhwirth also hauled down 8.9 rebounds a game, while his 725 points scored that season was a school record that stood for 14 years and now ranks fifth in school history. He concluded his Cerritos career with 917 points (12th most), while his 17.3 career scoring average is still the eighth best in the program's history.

"My brother was a gentle giant," said his brother Tim Fruhwirth, who played together at Artesia High and then during the 1973-74 season at Cerritos. "He cared about everyone and not only developed as a great basketball player, but he was a great friend to those he played with."

One of six children, Big Al stood head and shoulders over his siblings, including his brothers, as Tom checked in at 6-2, while Tim and Dave measured 6-1. The Fruhwirth genes went on to produce and second generation, as oldest sibling Debbie's son, Chad Bell played for the Falcons from 1995-97. The third generation is set to step foot on the Falcons court next season, as Chad's son, Garrett is incoming freshman and will play for Cerritos after graduating from Sonora High.

"I remember when Chad played for us, Big Al came to a few games," said head coach Russ May, who was an assistant coach at the time. "When I was re-doing the all-state photos in the gym, I stopped by his house and we talked for a while. He absolutely loved his time at Cerritos and he loved Coach B (head coach Jack Bogdanovich."

Coming out of high school, Fruhwirth was being courted by schools such as Arizona State University, University of Washington and Long Beach State. But it was his high school teammates George Rodriguez, Mike Moniz and Dave Hill, who were all playing at Cerritos at the time, that convinced him to join them with the Falcons. The four of them were teammates once again during the 1972-73 season and were co-champions of the South Coast Conference and finished with a 21-10 record. Two of his teammates both seasons, Randy Small and Phil Weinberg, remained best friends after their playing careers came to an end.

As a senior in high school, Fruhwirth averaged 22 points and 15 rebounds for Artesia (pictured, right), which led the Suburban League in both categories and earned him MVP honors. 

Even after his Falcon career came to an end, head coach Bob Foerster talked with Fruhwirth and said that playing for Bobby Dye at Cal State Fullerton would suit him the best, even though he was being recruited by other colleges.

His younger brother Tim laughingly chalked it up to Al being a 'mama's boy'. "I think Al wanted to stay close to home and this provided him the best opportunity."

With the Titans, Fruhwirth averaged 7.6 points and 3.6 rebounds his junior season and concluded his college career accounting for 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds a game.

Always looking to stay involved in basketball, Fruhwirth played AAU basketball and even spent the 1976-77 year as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters "2nd team", as a member of the Washington Generals. He spent the year touring through the states and into South America.

According to Bogdanovich, who was an assistant coach at Cerritos at the time Fruhwirth joined the program, the transformation from Fruhwirth's freshman to sophomore season was based on hard work and another year to develop into his body.

"I remember that we were recruiting both Big Al and John Rouwenhorst out of Valley Christian High, who was 6-foot-9," recalled Bogdanovich. "At the time, Coach Foerster and I didn't know which one would be better. We had a summer league that played on Thursday nights and Al was always there, but we had to hunt down John to see if he was going to play. They both ended up playing for us, but Al turned out to be the better player. That was one thing about Al - he was always willing to put in the extra work and I think he just needed an extra year to grow into his body. He always had issues with his knees, but he put in the work to make himself better."

With the Falcons running the one-game offense, it suited the play of Fruhwirth the best. The four other players would work the ball around the center and when he decided he wanted the ball, Fruhwirth would call for it and take the shot. It worked out incredibly well his sophomore season, as he set school record that still stands today by converting 288-of-453 shots, which is a phenomenal 63.6% accuracy.

Fruhwirth remained in the area and spent 37 years as a driver for Pepsico. He has three children - Scott (37), Kate (34) and Megan (26), while Scot and his wife Kiley presented him with a pair of grandchildren, Zane (6) and Cooper (4), who were his sparkle in his eyes. Fruhwirth never stayed too far away from his basketball roots, as he continued to play in city leagues, as well as playing in 3-on-3 tournaments. He also was a volunteer basketball and baseball coach in the Lakewood Parks and Recreation at Mae Boyer Park.

"Al was an active member of the community, who was involved with youth sports in the City of Lakewood for years," stated May. "Al had a big laugh that everyone recognized and he loved his years at Cerritos. He loved coaching kids and giving back to his community"

"Al was always an asphalt rat and continued to play as long as he could," stated Tim. "He was great at fundamentals and passed that on to as many kids as possible. It's tough to think that he's no longer with us. Not only was he my first friend, he was my best friend."