Pat Frink

Pat Frink
Personal information
Born(1945-02-18)February 18, 1945
DiedMay 6, 2012(2012-05-06) (aged 67)
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High schoolWheat Ridge
(Wheat Ridge, Colorado)
CollegeColorado (1965–1968)
NBA draft1968: 3rd round, 27th overall pick
Selected by the Cincinnati Royals
Playing career1968–1969
PositionShooting guard
Number17
Career history
1968–1969Cincinnati Royals
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Patrick Edward Frink (February 18, 1945 – May 6, 2012) was an American basketball player. He played one season in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Early life

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Pat Frink grew up in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, in a single-parent family with his older brother, Mike, and their mother, Madge, who worked several jobs at a time. The brothers never knew their father.[1]

Frink attended Wheat Ridge High School, where he starred as a 6'4" shooting guard. He earned all-state honor and all American honors.

College career

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He played collegiately at the University of Colorado from 1965 to 1968. There he played alongside his older brother, Mike Frink. For his career, he scored 1,288 points (17.4 per game) and grabbed 251 rebounds (3.4 per game). He led the team in scoring all three seasons he played for the Buffs.[2]

He was named second team All-Big Eight Conference his junior and senior years and was a second team Academic All-American in 1968.[3]

NBA career

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Following his graduation from Colorado, Frink was drafted by the Cincinnati Royals in the third round (27th pick) of the 1968 NBA draft. He played one season for the Royals, appearing in 48 games and averaging 2.1 points per game in 1968–69. He scored a career single-game best 17 points on January 9, 1969, against the Seattle SuperSonics.[4] An ankle injury kept him out of the next season, and his NBA career was over.

One of his teammates was legendary hall-of-famer Oscar Robertson who, despite playing with Frink for only one season, became lifelong friends with Frink and appeared at basketball camps run by Pat and Mike Frink.[5]

Personal life

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After his basketball career ended, he focused on caring for his daughter, Kody, who was born with Rett syndrome and had a life expectancy of about seven years. She was 21 when she died in 2000.

He lived on a ranch in Tucson, Arizona, and taught classes at an Indian reservation school. He ran a homeless shelter in Denver for 15 years,[5] and pastored the homebound and hospitalized elderly Catholic community in Boulder as a layman at Sacred Heart Church for 12 years.[6]

Frink died on May 6, 2012, in a single-vehicle accident outside Tucson, Arizona. He was 67. He was buried near his mother and daughter at the family cemetery on his ranch.[7][8]

Pat Frink was survived by four sons, Shane, Gant, Garrett and Dylan, one daughter, Shalom, and eight grandchildren; Maxwell, Madalyn, Caleb, Mackenzie and four others. [9]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

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Source[10]

Regular season

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1968–69 Cincinnati 48 7.6 .340 .793 .9 1.1 2.6

References

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  1. ^ "Basketball kept brothers Mike, Pat Frink connected". May 14, 2012.
  2. ^ a 6'4" shooting guard from
  3. ^ "2011-12 Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball media guide" (PDF). University of Colorado Athletics. 2012. Archived from the original (pdf) on February 27, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  4. ^ "Pat Frink 1968-69 Game Log | Basketball-Reference.com".
  5. ^ a b "THORBURN: Late Buff Pat Frink remembered as great scorer, great father". May 8, 2012.
  6. ^ "Buff Hoops Great Frink Killed In Truck Accident - CUBuffs.com - Official Athletics Web site of the University of Colorado". www.cubuffs.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014.
  7. ^ "Buff Hoops Great Frink Killed In Truck Accident - CUBuffs.com - Official Athletics Web site of the University of Colorado". www.cubuffs.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014.
  8. ^ "Former Colorado basketball star dies in crash". May 7, 2012.
  9. ^ "Buff Hoops Great Frink Killed In Truck Accident - CUBuffs.com - Official Athletics Web site of the University of Colorado". www.cubuffs.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014.
  10. ^ "Pat Frink NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
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