Ogden native DJ Frye playing basketball at home when Weber State hosts Park U Gilbert
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- Park University Gilbert’s DJ Frye, center, shoots against Bellevue University in a game Nov. 2, 2023, in Phoenix, Ariz. Frye played at Ogden High as a senior.
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- DJ Frye
There are plenty of ways sports can create a path for education other than being a well-known, Division-I prospect, and DJ Frye has availed himself.
The Ogden native is in his third college basketball season and is coming home when his Park University Gilbert (Arizona) squad plays Thursday afternoon at Weber State. He’ll have plenty of family and friends planning to watch.
“Everyone I told is pretty excited and they’re going to come out. That should be fun,” Frye said. “I just hope I don’t disappoint them.”
Park U competes in the NAIA, the country’s top small-college association outside of the NCAA. NAIA member schools typically provide athletic scholarships for their sports programs. Park University is a private, nonprofit college with campuses in Parkville, Missouri, and Gilbert, Arizona.
Frye is a 6-foot-5 player who is averaging 5.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in a bench role. He joined the Buccaneers after two seasons at Big Bend Community College in Washington.
“It’s been a blessing from God getting my school paid for and try to help these teams have success,” Frye said. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity to play basketball and get a degree.”
Frye said he’s pursuing a degree in criminal justice and corrections. He hopes to help young offenders and perhaps one day work for the FBI.
Gratitude for opportunities extends back to when Frye transferred from Bonneville to Ogden for his final 1 1/2 years of high school and his senior year of basketball, where he played under then-head coach Brock Randall.
“That was a good experience. My senior year when I transferred in, he just gave me an opportunity. I’m grateful to that whole coaching staff just letting me play my game,” Frye said. “It was a blessing, them believing in me, because I was almost done with basketball. But they welcomed me with open arms and I’m thankful for that to this day.”
He averaged 17 points and 8.1 rebounds per game at Ogden and was named a 4A All-State Third Team player in 2021.
His coach at Park U, Gordon Stubblefield, said they focused on Frye in recruiting because of his defensive ability and kept on him when he won his conference’s defensive player of the year award.
“He has a great, positive attitude for the locker room,” Stubblefield said. “He doesn’t talk negatively about anything, or very little. Everything’s positive.”
GAME PREVIEW
Park U (6-7) defeated Benedictine Mesa earlier this season in a double overtime game; Weber State opened the regular season with a 34-point win over Benedictine.
“We want to see if we can move the basketball and get good shots. And when you’re playing a team of this caliber, you want to see if you can guard them. We always want to see if we can guard a Division-I caliber player,” Stubblefield said. “It’s good for our guys to see what it’s like at this level and it will help us when we get back to conference play.”
The best-case scenario for Weber State (6-4) is a comfortable win that allows a deep set of bench players to log significant minutes, attempting to stay sharp ahead of a six-day break and coming out of the 40 minutes with health intact.
It’s Weber State’s last nonconference game before the holiday break and bridges the gap between its 1-1 road trip to Nevada and Wyoming, and the first Big Sky Conference series at home on Dec. 28-30 against Montana and Montana State.
After the stop-and-start nature of the nonconference schedule, the slate hits full stride after Christmas. Following the home conference series against the Montana schools, WSU hosts South Dakota State (Summit League frontrunners) on Jan. 3 and travels to Oral Roberts on Jan. 6 as part of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge, then resumes conference play with a road trip to Sacramento State and Portland State.
While Eastern Washington is a possible challenger, Montana and Portland State appear to be at the top of the league with Weber State and the Wildcats will face each one in the first four games of conference play.
Thursday’s game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. tipoff and kids get in free.
