JOSH FIELDS/Arizona Summer Wildcat NBA prospect Channing Frye answers questions at a press conference held Friday at McKale Center. Frye hopes that his name will be amongst the first ten read on draft day.

How Channing Frye has turned his nice-guy image into a shot at NBA riches

Hold the phone and stop the presses: Breaking news is about to hit Tucson.

Phoenix, Chicago and, most notably, New York – at Tuesday's NBA draft – will soon follow suit.

Channing Frye is a nice guy.

What? That's not news?

Maybe it doesn't take a book of clichés for the "Frye for President" mantra to sound like a broken record, or a mad-dash press run for fans of both professional and college basketball to believe the hype surrounding the Arizona men's basketball team's biggest kid, all 6-foot-11, 250-pounds – and counting – of him.

"There's got to be a ton of teams that would love to have a Channing Frye. You talk about somebody who's unbelievable in the community, unbelievable with the fans," praises Jim Livengood, UA athletic director, about Frye's likely success in the National Basketball Association. "There isn't an NBA city that he couldn't go into that he's not going to become the most favorite person on that team because of the way he treats adults and teammates and the way he treats kids."

Even his fellow Pac-10 athletes took notice. Frye was the sole male recipient of the 2005 Pacific 10 Conference Sportsmanship award, given to one male and one female spanning the conference's entire lineup of sports and voted on by the Pac-10 Student Advisory Committee.

"He came in here with an unbelievable set of values in terms of how you treat people and how you interact with people," Livengood says. "I go back to his family. His mom and dad have done such a great job with his value system."

While Frye's leadership qualities and lighthearted personality may have won over fans, fellow athletes, and administrators, his on-court basketball prowess has inversely taken NBA scouts by storm as of late.

Frye averaged 15.8 points per game during his senior campaign at the UA, pulling down 7.6 rebounds and blocking 2.3 shots per contest as well, virtually identical numbers to what he put up as a junior. In return, NBA teams are ready to make Frye a likely lottery pick at next week's draft in New York, securing the Phoenix native a multi-million dollar future, and the chance to live out his ultimate dream.

CLAIRE C. LAURENCE/Arizona Daily Wildcat Channing Frye is among a few projected NBA-draft lottery picks to be invited to attend the event at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Money madness

"This is so different. I get free stuff. I'm not used to that." Frye says, mentioning that when people offer to pay for dinner, he has to remember he can let them, now that he's not required to adhere to the perk-less life of the college athlete.

As each day passes, it appears Frye's status as a likely lottery pick – one of the first 14 choices in the draft – is becoming more certain.

Frye confirmed Saturday he received word he had been one of about a dozen or so projected lottery picks invited by the NBA to actually attend the draft in New York's Madison Square Garden.

But with the notoriety of a first round selection comes first round money, to the tune of around $1.5 million guaranteed for three years.

And with first round money comes an ultimate change in lifestyle, even if Frye doesn't want to admit it.

"Now he'll probably have to trade in the Sponge Bob t-shirts for suits," quips former UA men's basketball team manager Joe Williams, now spending his time handling Frye's appearance and workout schedule, web site, and other public ventures.

Money's not something that's going to change me. I'm going to throw my hat on backwards, rock some Jordan stuff and just kick it.– Channing Frye

"Money's not something that's going to change me," Frye adds. "And I know that I might like fancy things here and there, but you're not going to see me with like 15 tattoos and a huge chain and huge $100 million dollar earrings. I'm going to throw my hat on backwards, rock some Jordan stuff and just kick it."

Frye dismisses the fact he has two cell phones – one is for talking, the other for text messaging, he says – and justifies some of his new wardrobe, like the linen outfit he wore to a press conference in McKale Center last week, by claiming he's trying to stay comfortable in the hot summer weather.

"I still ride the same old car and still crack jokes," he said. "I have more video games now. I eat steaks three times a week, but that's something I have to do to gain weight. But other than that, nothing."

Movin' on up

"Teams want a person with character. They want a center who's versatile, a center/forward type person, and I feel I fit that role," Frye says, in a tone that tests the limits of how arrogant he can actually be.

But Frye, projected as a power forward in the NBA instead of a center, his college position, isn't the only one who sees himself a good fit for many pro teams.

"I just think his teachability, a term a coach would use, is probably pretty darn high," says Grant Wahl, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered the Wildcats throughout Frye's career in Tucson.

"Even as a high-school senior, nobody called him a blue-chipper," Wahl adds, noting the ability of Hall of Fame head coach Lute Olson to find players under the radar and mold them. "For him to come into Lute Olson's system, where teaching is so important, and to have him be where he is now as a lottery pick, that says a lot of the system, but that says a lot of Frye himself."

UA Assistant Coach Josh Pastner, who's primary assignment includes directing Wildcat big men, agrees with Wahl's assessment.

"He's very teachable. On the other hand, he's got that drive and inner excellence inside of him that he wants to be the very best. He is coachable, he wants to learn, you can get on him, and you don't have to worry about Channing being sensitive."

Frye's off-court reputation may be another trait teams look at when moving him up their draft boards, but Wahl says its Frye's reputation for being soft at times on the court that really isn't a fair judgment.

"I'm not sure how reputations like that develop. It only takes one or two instances for people to get labeled like that," Wahl says, noting that Frye's heroics during the Wildcats' quest for the Pac-10 title and the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament should have disproved that notion.

"My feeling is that especially late in the season is that Frye really showed what he could do."

Pastner admits, however, that Frye's game is nowhere near complete yet, heading into his professional rookie season.

"He has to become a better defender and a better passer. He's improved in both areas but not enough to be considered good enough," Pastner says, adding that Frye also needs to get stronger and make sure he's durable enough to handle the NBA's 82 game schedule, as compared to the 37 games the Wildcats played last season.

"He's going to have to be tough, going against physically strong men. Not young men, but grown men, 30-35 years old," Pastner says.

CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Channing Frye is known to be easily coached and bring solid values to the court, characteristics that draw the attention of the NBA League.

Channing Frye, Inc.

Even with the promise of being an early draft pick, Frye still manages to keep where he's going – and where he's been – in perspective.

"I'm a Phoenix guy and that's where I think I'm going to keep home base, so an hour and a half drive is not that bad," he says of keeping close ties to his roots in Phoenix and Tucson, adding that he plans to play a few games in the Tucson Summer Professional League, held at St. Gregory College Prepatory School, after the draft.

Another way Frye is keeping true to his roots is by keeping his family and friends involved in his business ventures.

Frye's parents, Thomas and Karen, created a new division of their marketing firm, Southwest Dimensions, to specifically cater to Channing's needs.

Williams, one of Frye's best friends while managing the UA squad, was soon enlisted to be a part of Southwest Dimensions Sports Group and work hand-in-hand with Rob Pelinka, Frye's agent with SFX Sports Group whose cliental list includes Kobe Bryant, among others.

"I'm working for them as far as everything from putting together his web site to approaching different people about different endorsement opportunities," says Williams, who graduated from the UA last year with a degree in communication and a minor in business. "He's got a lot of help from his agent, but his agent has I think 12 guys in the league right now, so as far as personal attention, a lot of it got filtered to me."

Williams said he never envisioned an opportunity like this coming up, adding he eventually would like to go into coaching. But an opportunity to be alongside one of his best friends for at least the next year was too good to pass up.

"I've probably seen 95 percent of every shot Channing has taken in the past four years – in games, in practice. From that standpoint it's good to have someone there who knows your game so well, and we're just such good friends which makes it easy," Williams says. "Channing needs someone there who he can count on. Too many times people get people around them that aren't really there for anything other than selfish reasons."

Livengood says he's glad Frye and Williams are able to continue the partnership they shared on the UA basketball team beyond their time in Tucson.

"Both of them are getting a terrific young person to help with their future growth; Channing is as well as Joe," he says. "They're both getting the best of what both have to offer."

With the draft fast approaching, Williams' job is just heating up. With a card signing deal with Upper Deck in the works for Frye, Williams is also in charge of getting Frye's Web site – channingfrye.com – underway by Friday, a venture Williams says he hopes might help entice other athletes to affiliate with Southwest Dimensions. Williams is also making sure to find out how many of Frye's relatives who live in the New York area plan to attend the draft Tuesday night, as well as coordinate draft-night festivities.

As far as dealing with the media blitz that's expected to latch on to Frye very quickly, that's old hat, according to Richard Paige, UA associate media relations director, who has the task of regulating media contact with members of the UA men's basketball team.

"Media attention here at the UA, especially if you're a basketball player, is something you have to deal with everyday," Paige says. "Channing is a media relations directors dream. He's on time; he's cordial; he's polite; he's intelligent; he's funny. He's great with children; he's great with peers; he's great with adults. He shows great respect."

Where next?

When push comes to shove Tuesday night in New York and teams get ready to make their selections, Frye said just the chance of playing anywhere in the NBA is what's important, not where he's going to end up.

"This whole process is so awesome. I try to every day work hard and stay humble and keep having a good attitude about the process," Frye says. "I think there are certain things you just have to understand that you have no control over – and that's who's going to pick you on the 28th."

NBA lottery teams are traditionally those that finish with the worst record in the league the previous season. Recent projections show Frye being picked as early as No. 8, to the New York Knicks, and Frye candidly says he's intrigued by the idea of playing in front of family he has in the area. Other rumors have the Golden State Warriors selecting him with the ninth pick, or the Los Angeles Lakers with the 10th pick.

Frye says he doesn't discriminate, however.

"A dream team is anywhere in the top 10. You could send me to the new Saskatchewan team and it wouldn't matter," Frye says. "This is an awesome situation. I'm not going to be out there complaining or crying because I went to some team that I may not like a lot."

"I like Golden State, like I like Milwaukee, like I like Atlanta," he says.

As for Frye's response to what he will do once push comes to shove and he is finally selected by a team next week, only a cliché would fit.

"Make lemonade out of lemons."