SEQUIM — The 14th annual Sonny Sixkiller Celebrity Golf Classic presented by Wilder Auto Center, which features a host of former University of Washington coaches and players, will be held today at the Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course.
In addition to Sixkiller, many other Huskies legends will be in attendance, including Lincoln Kennedy and Damon Huard.
Among those legends will be Olympic Peninsula locals such as Derrin Doty of Sequim and Matt Lane and Brandon Irvine from Port Angeles, all of whom played baseball for UW. Port Angeles’ Scott Jones, who went on to play football at UW and in the NFL, will also be there.
If people come out to check out this year’s Sixkiller tournament, one of the celebrities they will get to meet is Port Angeles/Peninsula College/UW/BYU and NBA legend Bernie Fryer.
And many people may not know that Fryer is a Huskies legend as he’s known for his basketball stardom at both Peninsula College, BYU and later in the NBA as a referee and head of the league’s referees.
But, he did actually play a year for UW as a freshman. Fryer said it wasn’t a good fit for him, though he did make lifelong friends among his fellow Huskies. He transferred to Peninsula College, where he became a huge star with his banner hanging in the PC gym, and he went on to BYU, averaging 18.7 points a game for the Cougars in his junior and senior years, then played in both the NBA and the ABA.
Fryer said UW actually recruited him as a football player. He could’ve been a teammate of Sixkiller’s.
“I was actually a better football player than basketball player, but I liked basketball more,” Fryer said.
Fryer’s resume is incredible. He is already a member of the Roughriders Hall of Fame, the Peninsula College Hall of Fame and the Washington State Athletic Hall of Fame. It’s not a stretch at all to consider that he may end up in the NBA Hall of Fame one day as an official and head of officials. He wouldn’t be the first official in the NBA Hall of Fame; the league already has inducted officials Mendy Rudolph, Earl Strom, Darell Garretson, Hugh Evans and Danny Crawford.
Fryer officiated in the NBA from 1978 to 2007 and was vice president and director of officials from 2008 until recently.
Fryer lives in Phoenix now, retired as head of officials for the NBA.
“After 50 years as a player and official and management, I was kind of basketballed out,” he said.
He spends his time golfing and enjoying his retirement. He moves back to the Sequim area in the summers to get out of the blistering Phoenix summers.
Fryer said the Sonny Sixkiller classic needed help filling a slot and he was more than glad to join up.
“[S’Klallam tribal chair] Jerry Allen called I was really happy to jump in there and help out,” he said. “I like to do anything for S’Klallam tribe, they do so much for the community.”
Fryer has also remained good friends with Bruce Skinner with the Olympic Medical Center Foundation, which is a partner in the celebrity golf tournament.
“I’m close to the crew at 7 Cedars and Bruce Skinner is also a good friend,” he said. “Any chance to help Bruce out.”
The celebrity golf classic is presented by Wilder Auto Center and raises money fo the Olympic Medical Center Foundation.
