Ben Frederick dismissed?

[Guest observer1216]

Did anyone see this coming?

[mhalionboy03]

I heard from sources close to the program that this almost happened to him last year. My cousin played youth rec ball with Big Ben, and he said that Ben Frederick was not only the biggest kid on the team, but also the biggest baby on the team. He said Ben whined more than any basketball player he'd ever seen. I've always heard bad things about Ben's attitude, but Ben has the one thing that every coach wants on his team, height. I didn't really think that Hubie Smith would actually kick him off, but I commend him for doing it. This show that Coach Smith(alumnus, Harding Academy) cares more about his students well-being than he does about the game of basketball, which is what a coach is for. I applaud Coach Smith and Bartlett High School for this tough decision and wish them the best of luck in this upcoming season.

Note: I have never played basketball with Ben Frederick, nor am I in any way associated with the Bartlett Basketball Program and I am only relaying information from reliable sources that have. Don't blame me if you disagree with this information, just dispute in a civil manner.

[TJ]

And how long ago was rec ball? Like 7-8 years? We were ALL big babies back then when things didn't go our way. I'm not gonna get into the whole, "what Coach Smith cares" about deal, but the reason Ben got kicked off didn't have to do w/ him being a big baby. Big Ben got kicked off b/c he stood up to "the man." And no, Big Ben did NOT almost get kicked off last year. Ben has quit a few times and come back, but that has all been in preseason.

[Edited by TJ on 10-10-02 2:33P]

[Guest abigfathen]

Posted by TJ:

And how long ago was rec ball? Like 7-8 years? We were ALL big babies back then when things didn't go our way. I'm not gonna get into the whole, "what Coach Smith cares" about deal, but the reason Ben got kicked off didn't have to do w/ him being a big baby. Big Ben got kicked off b/c he stood up to "the man." And no, Big Ben did NOT almost get kicked off last year. Ben has quit a few times and come back, but that has all been in preseason.

[Edited by TJ on 10-10-02 2:33P]

 

 

 

Well, if you stand up to " the man " , I think you deserve to be kicked off the team. He was obviously babying about alot if he had to dispute with the Coach. Coach Smith is one of the greatest and one of my personal favorite coaches in the Memphis area and I know that he runs his program well. If you had one of your best players crying to you about it, obviously he is not fit to be playing for a First Class Program. I commend him also for doing it, not that I have anything against Ben but I have much respect for Coach Smith and I believe he did what was best for the program. If he let one kid get away with slacking off and having a bad attitude, soon the entire team will be able to get away with it and the downfall of his program would be underway. So this was a good move for the future, but Ben was definitely a good player skill wise. It will hurt their team this year but it will make them stronger overall. Good luck to the guys who can stick with it and good luck to Coach Smith. And by the way, why would a kid quit the team and come back, like it was a favor to the team. I know that if a kid from our team quit, Coach Froedden wouldn't give them the oppurtunity to rejoin unless they were sincere and ready to put all they had into the season.

[starman]

Big Ben can move to Northeast Tennessee and go to Unaka. I know he would fit in well up there and he would have no reason to get mad because we would teach him how to hunt and fish. Talk about how the East was won, maybe Big Ben is the answer.

[TJ]

Ummmm, I played for the Coach Smith for 4 years, so I don't really need a description of what his program is like. You don't know what happened so don't be so soon to take sides. I know what happened from Ben's mouth. It's one thing to stand up to "the man" when he's coaching you or criticizing you on the basketball court, but if he starts questioning your integrity then I believe in standing up for yourself. And for the 3rd time Big Ben wasn't being a baby or griping over something. They had a dispute over something that happened in a pickup game.

[Edited by TJ on 10-10-02 6:52P]

[Dale]

What exactly happened? Can someone please fill me in?

[mhalionboy03]

TJ, I know you played for Coach Smith. He has coached at Bartlett going on 18 or 19 years now. He single handedly made that program into what it is. He won that State Championship, not Jonathon Loe, not Troy Jenkins, not Adrian Jones, and not Ben Frederick. Coach Smith is by far one of the greatest high school basketball coaches Tennessee has ever seen, not only because of his on the court victories, but also because of his off the court teaching. I am shocked to hear anyone that played for Coach Smith such as yourself now crossing him. If Coach Smith didn't see him fit to play at Bartlett, he shouldn't play Basketball anywhere. Bartlett will probably struggle this year, but hopefully this will make them fight even harder to win games. Coach Smith made Ben Frederick into the Basketball player that he is today. To show him any disrespect at all would be cause to get thrown off of the team in my book. And to walk out on Hubie Smith, Head Coach at Bartlett, before the season, good ridance. Ben will never have any idea how lucky he was to have played last year. I again commend Coach Smith and wish him and his Panthers the best of luck, and maybe even another trophy from Murfreesboro.

[TnBball]

I know during the Belmont Camp this summer Ben and coach Smith were having problems..I think at that time it was Ben's attitude and Ego problems.One of the Belmont assistants said that they really didnt want to deal with Ben as far as recruting him because they werent impressed with his attitude as far as working hard and his big Ego..I heard a few people during the camp talk about how lazy he was.

 

As far as coach Smith, hes definitely one of the finest coaches in the state of TN and Southeast Region. Of course he had some really good players but he developed some kids as well..The man has had some big success, give credit where its due!

[Campbelle2]

No coach or one player makes a program or a team and that includes Hubie Smith and Ben Fredrick. Bartlett has become a great program because of good coaching and good players. One does not excel without the other. Not only players, but coaches also can be guilty of thinking they are the sole person responsible for the program. Bartlett will survive without Ben Fredrick, but they could have also been contenders over the years with the talent they have had there without Hubie Smith. However, the combination of Coach Smith and the players at Bartlett have been a great mix. It's sad this could not have been worked, but no one is bigger than the game.

[CoachT]

It seems to me that, from reading the article and checking with a couple of people, that Ben just doesn't want to play. For those fans who have always dreamed of playing major college sports that may be hard to understand. Not everyone wants that, though, and it seems that Ben is one of those. And, in my opinion, that's OK. If you don't want to play then it is hard to have a good attitude about playing.

[TJ]

I guess my last post sounded worse than I meant it to. I didn't mean for it to come off as me crossing Coach Smith. Coach Smith is a great, great coach. I have heard other former players say that they don't really appreciate Coach Smith's knowledge of bball until they play for someone else. And that is true. But don't think that it's all honkey-dorey w/ Coach Smith. Coach Smith can be hard to deal w/ on a daily basis as a player and it sometimes builds on you. I love the man to death but playing for him can be hard at times and maybe he just got to Ben. I'm not saying it was all Ben's fault or all Hubie's fault. Either way, it's both of their losses. But I disagree w/ you when you say HE won the state championship. No, Bartlett basketball won the state championship. Coach Smith's system, hardwork, discipline, and coaching philosophies gave us what we needed to win the state championship but the players won it. He's had 18 other teams beside us not do what we were able to. I have an IMMENSE amount of respect for Coach Smith so I would not like to discuss my old coach on a message more any further. If you would like to discuss anything w/ me, you can email me at TroyJ44@aol.com or IM me at TroyJ44.