Standing tall and talented, Amare Stoudemire was drafted 9th overall by the Phoenix Suns in the 2002 NBA Draft and took the Valley by storm. A high school player who attended numerous schools in his journey to the NBA, the 19 year-old had originally committed to the University of Memphis.
“I saw him perform in the McDonald’s open,” then GM and owner Jerry Colangelo said of Stoudemire as a prospect. “He was like a man among boys. I said to Bryan [Colangelo] to Mark West to our staff, ‘Bring him in. I want to see this guy.