PUEBLO, Colo. (Feb. 8, 2023) - Traveling the farthest for the Colorado State Pueblo basketball reunion weekend February 24 and 25 is Brazilian resident Mike Frink.
 
An assistant coach for the Brazilian national basketball team that placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Olympic games, Frink played high school basketball in the Denver suburban's at Wheat Ridge before enrolling in the fall of 1961 at Pueblo Junior College.
 
"I walked on due at PJC due to Monk Saunders (a former roommate of the Harry Simmons at the University of Colorado in the mid-1930s)," said Frink, who currently resides in Belo Horizonte, which is located 275 miles north of Rio de Janeiro.  "Monk called the Chief and told him about a 6-foot-1 player who had  never started a varsity high school game."
 
At Wheat Ridge, Frink played with Saunders' son (Norm) and the Farmers lost to Denver George Washington in the AAA 1961 semifinals while PJC was preparing for its run to the junior college tournament title in Hutchinson later in the month of March.
 
"My uncle paid my first quarter tuition and fees in 1961 as I 'seemingly' tried to show my 'game' against grown men who actually were the defending national champions," said Frink.  "If my memory serves me right the Chief definitely put me on some kind of aid in the second quarter or I could not have paid my bus fare to Pueblo for the second quarter."
 
Frink said at the end of "my freshman season, we lost a three-point decision to Northeastern in the semi-finals on its floor as we did not get any favorable calls.  Trinidad defeated Northeastern in the finals, and we split with the Trojans during the season with one of the wins being The Chief's 400th coaching win."
 
After averaging 7.6 points a game as a freshman reserve with eight games scoring in double-figures for the 15-12 then-Indians, Frink moved into the starting unit as a sophomore for the PJC that attained the No. 1 ranking in the junior college polls in January 1963.
 
Frink was the second-leading scorer on the 1962-1963 team that was playing the school's final season in the junior college ranks.  He averaged 19.5 points and 8.1 rebounds a game for the 24-7 Indians as he missed two games due to injuries.  And his scoring total did not include his career-best performance of 35 points in an exhibition game with the D-C Truckers.
 
"During my sophomore season, I played without the pressure of flat tire changing duty that was my main task as a freshman when traveling to road games," said a chuckling Frink, who finished behind freshman guard Sam Moore (20.4 points a game) and ahead sophomore forward Sam Batey (18.9) in scoring average.
 
"On the road as a sophomore, I roomed with the two Sams and Jim Simmons (10.9 points a game)," said Frink. "We were the team's leading scorers, and my cell phone cannot hold the countless stories in all those rooms."
 
In the "Chief's" pattern offense, Frink benefited from "triple screen" as he shot nearly 50 percent from the field during the 1962-1963 season with most of his shots made from the top of the key and beyond today's three-point arc.
 
"Unfortunately, we injuries we had at the end of the season that hurt us in the regional playoffs," said Frink about the 1962-1963 team.
 
During Frink's stay in Pueblo, Coach Simmons was producing a basketball aid call the "Iron Defender" and "The Chief" used the players to demonstrate at coaching clinic.
 
"It would be cool if you could roll the Iron Defender out onto the arena floor during the half time to honor the Chief whom I feel embodies and symbolizes that as one of his countless coaching memorabilia in his unmatched career," said Frink.
 
After his two seasons at PJC, Frink transferred to the University of Colorado where he started for two seasons.  After posting a career scoring averaging 13.4 points a game for the Indians, Frink scored 12.1 and 9.4 points a game for the Buffs in 1963-1964 and 1964-65, respectively. In four years, Frink scored 1,257 points in 104 games for a 12.1 average.
 
At Colorado, Mike teamed with his brother (Pat) in leading the Buffs to a 13-12 record and an 8-6 Big Eight mark for the 1964-1965 season. Pat Frink led that team in scoring, averaging 15.0 points with Mike Frink third in both scoring and rebounding (5.7). Norm Saunders, Frink's prep teammate, was fourth in scoring for CU that season (9.0) and second in rebounding (6.0)
 
Pat Frink, a 6-foot-4 guard, led CU in scoring each of the three seasons he played in Boulder. When he graduated in 1968, Pat Frink's 1,288 career points ranked second in CU history - behind Ken Charlton's 1,352 from 1960-1963.
 
After starring at CU, Pat Frink (No. 5 to the left) played the 1968-1969 season in the NBA with the Cincinnati Royals. His roommate was the legendary Oscar Robertson. A leg injury kept him out of the next season and his basketball career faded away.
 
Mike Frink first launched his coaching career at Wheat Ridge High (1969-1976) where he coached legendary CU sports star and former NFL player Dave Logan. Frink later moved up to the collegiate ranks becoming an assistant at Hawai'i (1976-1978), Arizona (1978-1981) and Washington (1981-1985).
 
At Wheat Ridge, Frink's Farmers won 47-straight games in the Jeffco from 1970-1972 and were ranked No. 1 all 30 weeks of the Denver Post Poll those three seasons going 61-8 overall.  Despite the record, my critics will remember me for losing in the AAA state finals in 1971 and 1972 and the semifinals in 1970," said Frink.
 
Frink coached future NBA all-star Detlef Schrempf at Washington and was named one of the top-15 assistant coaches in the nation by Basketball Weekly. He helped guide the Huskies to back-to-back NCAA tournaments in 1984 and 1985.
 
The defunct World Basketball League (WBL) would be the next stop on his resume from 1987-1990 performing two separate stints as a head coach in Canada with Vancouver and Saskatoon. Mike Frink would remain on the international scene with his longest stint yet from 1990-1998 with a head coaching position with the Confederation of Brazilian Basketball (CBB).
 
After a short return back to the States, Mike Frink spent one year (2000-2001) as the head coach and the Director of Basketball Operations of the Cincinnati Stuff of the International Basketball League (IBL). Mike Frink then returned to international basketball traveling to China to be the head coach of Hangzhou of the Zheijiang Province from 2001-2003 before returning to Boulder to coach at CU for one season.
 
A 1967 CU graduate with degrees in Distributive Studies and Education, Mike Frink also served in the Colorado Army National Guard (1968-1974).  The father of a son (Dirk) and daughter (Briana), Mike resides in Brazil with his wife, the Rosimiriam Araujo, who is a dentist.
 
"My experiences in the Olympics as an assistant coach for Brazil are my most awesome memories," Mike Frink added, "but I am assured that does not happen without the Chief allowing me to walk on in the fall of 1961.  I am forever grateful for him - a man for all seasons but 1961 was my 'season of fortune'."
 
As for the February 24 and 25 gathering, MIke Frink said, "I am looking forward to the weekend and I'll even be old enough to go to the HiFi club legally and will try to eat as many Dutch lunches and Pass Keys as possible. So many memories are chiseled in my mind highlighted by kissing our basketball Queen (Barbara, not yet Batey but a sure thing to come). I love her and I am honored to be Sam junior's God father after that kiss."
 
Nicknamed the "Frogman" due to his shooting style of leaping into his shot, Frink is looking forward to the weekend.  "These days we have a lot of avenues to stay in contact with family and friends," Frink added,  "but there is nothing better than interacting with each other in person.  I'm excited and looking forward to renewing a lot of friendships."