Posted: June 26, 2002

Chairman and CEO Jerry Colangelo spoke with reporters Wednesday following the Suns’ selection of Amare Stoudemire and Casey Jacobsen in the 2002 NBA Draft. The following is an excerpt from that media availability session.

Question: You just chose Stanford’s Casey Jacobsen at No. 22. What do you like about this kid?

Colangelo: He’s an athletic guy. He is an excellent basketball player, very skilled, excellent shooter, terrific team player. You can never have too many guys who can shoot the ball, and I think he’ll be a great addition.

The excitement with Stoudemire is in terms of his upside. This guy has star potential. Whether he achieves it or fulfills it remains to be seen. That’s the question. That’s true of any of the players on the board today. We knew we wanted this kid the first time we saw him. He is a man among boys, in terms of where he competed. He’s gone through so much on a personal basis, with family problems, and he came through it unscathed. He’s got great character, he’s a gym rat, he loves the game and there’s nobody on the board with the kind of physical ability he has. So, the excitement is, we may be one of the youngest teams in basketball next year. Yes, we have veterans, but I’m referring to the nucleus of young people. We said we had to rebuild. This is a great step towards accomplishing that goal. We have to be patient to some degree. I think our fans can look forward to some real excitement.

Question: The precursor to Stoudemire was when he sat next to the big boss at the D-Backs game (on May 22). I guess it was a clue that you would go that direction.

Colangelo: I knew I wanted him the first time I saw him. The first time I saw a guard over in L.A. playing for the Lakers (Kobe Bryant), I said “I want him, he’s special.” Of course we didn’t have a chance to get him (in the 1997 draft), but we came close. We tried. I kind of have the same feeling about this kid, and I’m not putting him in the same category of Kobe Bryant. I’m saying the look in the eye tells you this kid is committed. He wants it, he knows what he has to do. It’s going to be exciting to have him.

Question: Was this the two guys you wanted the most?

Colangelo: Yes. I’ll tell you, our staff did a tremendous job. If you look at our ratings and how people fell in the draft, it was incredible how close we were in everything. We did pick those two guys out. We wanted them as a complement. We had different combinations had Stoudemire not been there. Had it been Nene (Hilario) or had it been (Jared) Jeffries or (Chris) Wilcox, the combination would have been a little bit different in terms of the pick at 22. It happened just the way we had hoped, so that’s exciting, it really is.

We want to get young. We got young today with a couple of excellent picks. The upside that Stoudemire brings to the table is just incredible. I think maybe it’s the highest upside on anyone who was on the board today. I really believe that strongly in this kid. In the fact that he has the attitude, the character, the commitment, he’s a gym rat, he loves the game, he’s well advanced already. With the attitude, I think he has a chance to be tremendous. Whether he fulfills it remains to be seen. Many things prevent individuals from getting there. On paper, again, looking him in the eye, just having an instinct for some of this from time to time, I think we couldn’t have done any better than we did.

Question: Does this tell the fans that patience may be required for a year or two?

Colangelo: I think in selecting this particular individual, we’re telling our fans “Get ready for some real excitement,” because you have another guy who plays way above the rim. We have one in Shawn Marion. If you look at the nucleus of our younger players, (Jake) Tsakalidis in the middle, Marion and Stoudemire and Joe Johnson and (Stephon) Marbury, and that’s not to eliminate veterans. I’m just talking about our nucleus, and you add Stoudemire and Jacobsen to this group, we’re expanding that nucleus of young players. We’re going to be one of the youngest teams in the league next year.

Question: Did you have to change your attitude on high school players coming out?

Colangelo: Everything evolves. I still maintain that if we had our druthers, these kids should all stay in school. That’s not reality. That’s living in La-La land. The fact is, that’s not the way it is. So you have to be prepared, just like you have to be prepared internationally. You have to be prepared to look at the best on a high school level. This kid is not your typical high school kid. It’s as simple as that. He is very special. That’s the reason we took him.