Cloud still hangs over dismissal of Centennial hoops coach

It’s been three weeks since Centennial High School head basketball coach Pete Froedden, the District 11-AAA Coach of Year as voted by his colleagues, was relieved of those duties. School officials still won’t address the reasons for the move.

The school issued a statement after administration was questioned in mid-March. The statement read, “After careful consideration, we have decided to move in a different direction with our boys basketball program.”

A different direction? 

Froedden took a program that had posted a 52-87 record over the previous six years and had gone beyond the first round of the district tournament only once and molded it into a team with three straight Region 6-AAA tournament appearances.  

In his first year, the Cougars went 18-12 and advanced to the regional for the first time in five years. He took Centennial to the region semifinals in 2018. Were it not for an injury to standout guard Dusty Williams, Centennial might well have been a state tournament team this year, having defeated both Franklin and Brentwood in what has become the toughest basketball district in the state outside of Memphis. 

Williams, the team’s second-leading scorer, was injured during the final game of the regular season, a win against Ravenwood, and couldn’t play in the first round of the district tournament against the Raptors, a game Centennial lost just days later. Meanwhile, Franklin reached the state tournament for the first time in 30 years, while Brentwood advanced to the state semifinals. Again, remember, the Cougars split games with those two rivals. 

But school officials want to go in a different direction? So much for being transparent. 

There is a sadder side to this story, however.

According to three different sources, Froedden was forced out based on the actions of one or more assistant coaches. These are actions of which Froedden was unaware.

Around Thanksgiving, senior Ahsharri Haynesworth changed his residence, moving into the Franklin High School zone. The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association granted him eligibility to play for the Rebels based on a bona fide change of address. That should have been the end of the story.

Instead, one or more assistant coaches at Centennial allegedly could not get past Haynesworth’s move and went as far as engaging at least one private investigator to try to gather evidence that a change of address did not occur. Reportedly, this included supposed proof of Fed Ex packages being delivered to rival schools.

Froedden, according to every source the Herald has spoken to, had no idea about the shenanigans. The thought that any coach would go to that extreme borders on an unhealthy obsession with situations out of their control and any involved in such an endeavor should be dismissed. If the head coach was unaware, there should be some grace. Granted, he is the captain of the ship and can’t escape unscathed, but to be terminated without explanation is unfair not only to the head coach, but also to the taxpayers of Williamson County.

The lack of transparency also casts a formidable and undeserved pall over a coach’s future, considering the unfortunate way other coaches have left, including one in handcuffs. To dismiss the architect of a current winning program by saying you’re going in a different direction leaves way too many doors open for people to spout assumptions. And that error can be extremely expensive.

There is a huge groundswell of support for Froedden at the grassroots level, beginning with the nine seniors returning for what could be the best team the school has ever fielded. The fact that the strongest support flows from the players and their families, the folks who have worked closest with Froedden, should tell us all something.

It is time for Centennial, Principal Chris Hames and the school district to quit selectively hiding behind a veil of secrecy and let in a little sunshine.

Joe Williams is the sports editor for the Williamson Herald. He can be reached at joe@williamsonherald.com.