Coach Frederick came as the athletic director after I left as a graduate assistant. Obviously, he was gone when I came back as the head coach, but I’ve always known him. I’ve known him from back when I was a graduate assistant. I knew him when he was the AD at Illinois State.
We had pictures in the hallway when he was on staff here at Kansas. We’ve always visited. I do feel like I know him and I know some of his family members at least a little bit, but I didn’t know Coach Frederick in a way that a lot of people were blessed to know him. The things that he did epitomized class. Everybody that I ever visited with about him thought that he was as professional and as classy a gentleman as there is. He was a great role model and someone that people look at and say, “He’s a guy I want to be more like,” which I think is a fabulous compliment.
I had somebody tell me that has been at the University for many years that this is the biggest loss our University’s had, just from the standpoint of how he’s been viewed, his community involvement, his reputation and the impact he’s had on different things. Through coaching, whether it be at Lawrence High School, through charity work in the community, the contribution he made through the athletic department and the educational system. He was a fabulous instructor that all students really thought a lot of.