Trina Frierson’s career in basketball seems to be over. The game, however, has not drifted out of her life.

Since ending a six-year stint as an assistant coach at Northwestern State University last summer, the former Vicksburg High, Louisiana Tech and WNBA star has ventured into the realm of private business. She’s also teamed with one of her former Northwestern State players, Diamond Allen, to conduct training sessions and camps like the one going on this week at Vicksburg Junior High.

The three-day Trina Frierson Basketball Camp will continue through Wednesday and focuses on individual drills and team competition.

“This is the second one we have in Vicksburg,” Frierson said during a break from a Monday morning session. “We’ll also be having camps in Minden, La., Natchitoches and another one here at the end of the month.”

Frierson returned to Vicksburg last fall, after ending her coaching career and taking a job with Cellular Sales, a Nashville-based cellphone company.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Frierson said. “I’m living at home with my grandparents, and working for Cellular Sales. I’ve been with them since November and they’ve been very flexible in letting me get back to training kids.”

Frierson had an exceptional playing career. She led Vicksburg High to a 36-2 record and the 1997 Class 5A championship game as a sophomore, won the Vicksburg Post’s Player of the Year award in 1999, and went on to play at Louisiana Tech.

Despite battling knee injuries, the 6-foot-2 Frierson was a two-time All-Western Athletic Conference forward. In four seasons with the Lady Techsters, her teams went a combined 114-14 and made four NCAA Tournaments. She ended her collegiate career with 1,581 points to rank 15th on the school’s career scoring list.

After averaging a career best 16.2 points per game in her senior season at Tech, Frierson was the 19th overall selection in the 2004 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm.

She played five games for the Storm before suffering another knee injury. The Storm, led by center Lauren Jackson and guard Sue Bird, won the WNBA title that season. The 2004 knee injury, however, ended Frierson’s career.

Despite the setback, Frierson said she enjoyed her time with the Storm.

“I loved Seattle,” she said. “I got to play for (Basketball Hall of Famer) Anne Donovan and I was Lauren Jackson’s backup. Lauren is an amazing player and an even better person.”

Frierson decided to coach and quickly landed a job on Jennifer Graf’s staff at Northwestern State. She spent six years there, the last two as the Lady Demons’ associate head coach. She left Northwestern State in August to take care of her grandparents.

In her time as a college coach, Frierson was in charge of the Lady Demons’ recruiting efforts.

“I had Mississippi, but I also went into Texas and saw Sha’Kayla Caples playing out at Trinity Valley,” Frierson said of the former four-time Vicksburg Post Player of the Year from Warren Central. “Sha’Kayla has become one of the best combination guards I’ve seen. Ole Miss is going to become real good with her there.”

Getting players to succeed at the next level is Frierson’s goal. One of her pet projects is recently graduated Warren Central player Shegredda Shorter.

Shorter, a 6-foot-4 center, has signed with Hinds Community College.

“Gredda started working out with us and we were able to improve her footwork and she dropped another 20 pounds,” Frierson said. “The Hinds coach took one look at her and signed her on the spot. What I like about her is her determination and work ethic. She also has a good touch around the basket.”

Frierson is excited about several young players.

“A lot of the 20 or so players here are in junior high,” Frierson said. “Denitra Bracey and Sherrell Kelly are going to be really good players for Warren Central, and Vicksburg Junior has good some players coming up as well, including Jessica Johnson’s daughter, DeShay.”

Across town, St. Aloysius is also hosting a camp this week.

Coach Delvin Thompson has about 30 elementary school campers going through drills. Thompson has invited one of his former college teammates at Alcorn State, Phoenix Suns’ guard Ronnie Price, to speak and sign autographs for the campers on Wednesday.