How longtime ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla became part of NBC's Olympics coverage

The broadcast of the NBA Draft does not often lend itself to memorable moments, but ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla managed to accidentally come up with a one-liner for the ages on draft night in 2014.

When the Toronto Raptors took Bruno Caboclo at No. 20 – a decision so far out of left field that he wasn’t even listed on most mock drafts – it caught even some of the most well-versed analysts off guard.  But when Fraschilla was asked to assess the pick, he was ready with a line that turned out to be both humorous and accurate: “He’s two years away from being two years away.”

Fraschilla, the former college coach turned broadcaster, wasn’t just pulling that out of thin air. The fact Fraschilla even knew about Caboclo going into the draft was the product of a long obsession with international basketball, an area of expertise that has once again landed him on NBC’s broadcast team for the Tokyo Olympics.

“I’ve been able to carve out a really cool niche away from college basketball,” said Fraschilla, who will call games not involving Team USA. “It’s become a second passion of mine.”

At first glance, it seems unusual that Fraschilla – who never played or coached overseas – became one of America’s foremost authorities on international hoops. So USA TODAY Sports asked him how he ended up as such an indispensable resource that NBC has now used him twice for the Olympics on loan from his primary employer ESPN, where he calls high-profile college games during the season.

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USA TODAY: When did you get into international hoops?

Fraschilla: I’m a lifelong basketball junkie. I have always had an appreciation for international hoops and it really intensified when I was coaching at Manhattan College in the 1990s. I had a Spanish kid from Madrid on my team, Jeronimo Bucero, who was a very good player and a great student. Before his senior year we promised him we’d take a trip to Spain to get him home and it would be our foreign tour and we did about 10 days there and played some really good Spanish and Greek teams who were getting ready for their seasons in August and I was captivated by it.

Subsequent to that, I started doing clinics in Iceland, Spain, Greece and different places and so I developed a network of friends. Then, ironically, in 2004 after my first year at ESPN my boss asked me if I would like to do the draft because they had a spot for me if I would do the international players and I said absolutely. The first place I went was the Reebok Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy in 2004 and Donnie Nelson and Kiki Vandeweghe were running it so I walk into this gym ostensibly as a media guy and Donnie Nelson who knew me from Dallas where I was living at the time, and he said “What are you doing here?” I told him I’m covering the draft for ESPN and he said, “No you’re not, you’re coaching.” So I coached at the Eurocamp for 12 straight years and got to know essentially every kid in the draft from there on out so my knowledge of them was intimate because in many cases I coached with or against them and got to be very close with these guys. It intensified my passion.

USA TODAY: But even beyond the Eurocamp, weren’t you traveling some just to watch on your own?

Fraschilla: Oh yeah. I went to Prague in 2013 for the FIBA under-19 championship and I watched Marcus Smart and Elfrid Payton and Justice Winslow win the gold medal. They beat Serbia in the final and the backup center was Nikola Jokic, who was hardly playing at the time. It’s amazing how many things I do when it comes to basketball that comes out of my pocket because I just love the game. I will travel the world to watch basketball. I have been to China and 18 to 20 European countries. It’s what I do, it’s what I love.”

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USA TODAY: How often were you taking foreign trips to watch basketball?

Fraschilla: Probably 15 times in the last 15 years, one a summer on average. A lot of times I’d been asked to speak at clinics so it’s not out of my pocket in that regard but it wasn’t for ESPN. It’s a way for me, a lot of things I’m doing now are really to educate American and high school college coaches about international basketball and the strategy and tactics.

The Dream Team gets a lot of credit for shrinking the basketball globe and rightfully so, but 50 years ago Hubie Brown, Chuck Daly, Dr. Jack Ramsey, Dean Smith – these guys were at the forefront of spending time with international coaches and teaching them the game and they did such a good job that now when you watch the NBA and see the influx of these great international players it’s kind of equal parts those early masters of the game and the Dream Team. As Americans, we shrunk the globe for the world and what I’m so fascinated by and why I love the international game so much is I’m able to connect my international coaching friends with American coaches and say the things we’re doing now we got from international coaches who got it from Dean Smith 40 and 50 years ago.

USA TODAY: What’s the most unusual place you ever went to watch hoops?

Fraschilla: For some strange reason I had three or four former players who ended up being some of the best players to play in Iceland and one of them is still over there. I did a series of clinics there about 15 years ago and it was enchanting. At the end of the summer we came out of a clinic at 11 p.m. one night and it’s still light out. I’ve done clinics in Iraq for soldiers during the second Gulf War. I’ve been to China to see the Shanghai Sharks play and sat with Yao Ming. I’m not name dropping, it’s just I’ve been really fortunate to have been able to connect with so many friends and I try to bridge the gap. I know it sounds corny, I just love the game so much that I like to share it.

USA TODAY: When you’re not traveling, how do you keep up with what’s going on in Spain or Greece or wherever?

Fraschilla: Synergy (a subscription-based Web site for film and advanced stats). I’m on there like someone is on the internet and reading USA TODAY. It’s just what I do every day. I’m going to watch 30 to 45 minutes to an hour worth of video every day. For me, this isn’t a job. This is a lifelong love of the game and I don’t know it all but I don’t want someone to say Fran Fraschilla doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I don’t always know what I’m talking about but I try to do it where people say I like listening to him and it’s particularly useful with international hoops and the Olympics because I get to educate people about where some of these kids came from.