Just one month before being awarded this distinction, however, Frank nearly stumbled as his team advanced along the path of an NCAA tournament run. He started “feeling funny” after a game against Wake Forest. The feeling was unlike the usual butterflies he experienced during a big game, so a day later he decided to pay a visit to the team trainer.

“I told him I was having a little pain and he said I needed to get checked out at the hospital. It just felt like gas,” Frank said, and reluctantly agreed to a medical examination.

After an ultrasound, Frank was immediately ushered to the operating room with an inflamed appendix. Though understanding the need to care for his health, Frank’s mind was preoccupied with his team and their next few games. The hospital was the last place he wanted to be.

“Obviously I kept pleading with the doctors that they had to let me out of the hospital early. We were in the NCAA run, leaving for our next game at Virginia Tech in two days! But my surgeon explained the minimally invasive way they could do the surgery so I would have less pain and a quicker recovery, so I was all for it,” he explained. Of course even the surgeon did not expect Frank to recover as quickly as he did.

Frank awoke the morning after surgery able to walk, and as his doctor promised, he experienced minimal pain, for which he did not feel the need to take the pain relieving medication prescribed to him. After spending just one night in the hospital, he was able to return home Friday afternoon. On Saturday, he received permission from his doctor and caught a plane to Blacksburg, Virginia to coach against Virginia Tech, and from there stayed on the road for four days, also traveling to Tallahassee to play against Florida State before returning to Miami.

At each game, Frank amazed onlookers with his ability to stand and coach the entire time. Frank said by the end of this road trip, he felt completely recovered. He reported having no more discomfort, and watched his small incisions heal into minimal scars.

“I had many people tell me it’s pretty amazing I was able to recover that quickly,” he said. “I talked to several friends and colleagues since having surgery who have also had their appendix removed through a more traditional open surgery and I heard these horror stories of their experiences — how they couldn’t walk for days, for example. For me, it was no big deal and the way I was able to recover was pretty amazing to me,” he said.

Today, Frank says he “100 percent, without a doubt” would recommend patients talk with their doctors about a minimally invasive procedure if they are facing an appendectomy.

“I can’t imagine doing it the other way. I feel fine, had no side effects, and the recovery and minimal scarring are things that I think people should know about. It was great for me,” he said.