Arizona Wildcats Picked in NBA Draft Top 10: An Elite Feat
By Brad Malone
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Channing Frye
8th Pick by the New York Knicks in 2005
When I was in college I interned at the sports department of KVOA in Tucson. One day we got a tape of a scrawny kid playing basketball from Phoenix. When I heard he had committed to Arizona I thought it was a joke. I wondered why Lute recruited this kid.
The kid’s name was Channing Frye and I couldn’t have been more wrong about him. I guess that’s one reason Lute Olson is in the Hall of Fame and I’m not.
Channing was beloved in Tucson for good reason. Not only was he a super nice guy but he was a great basketball player.
Frye was an All Pac-10 First Team selection in 2004 and 2005 and his teams reached the Elite Eight twice in his four years in Tucson.
Frye has been in the NBA since 2005 and currently plays for the Orlando Magic.
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