New Director of Basketball Operations Brad Frederick recently joined coach Roy Williams’ staff after former director Joe Holladay went into retirement in early June.
Sports Editor Max Miceli spoke with Frederick about his newly acquired position and his return to Chapel Hill.
DAILY TAR HEEL: You attended UNC in 1996, and now you’re back. What is it about Chapel Hill that reeled you back in?
BRAD FREDERICK: I had a great experience here as a student on the basketball team, and I always hoped that one day I would have a chance to come back. I’ve also known Roy Williams for a very long time. So the opportunity to work with him and the opportunity to be back at North Carolina was something that was certainly very exciting for me.
DTH: What sort of relationship do you have with Roy Williams, and why do you want to be a part of his staff?
BF: My dad hired Coach Williams at Kansas a long time ago, 1988, and I became best friends with his son, Scott. We both went to Carolina at the same time and continued to be best friends. That’s how I’ve known Coach for so long. I knew him during his time at Kansas. So when I saw him in the spring out on the road recruiting, he told me that Coach Holladay was retiring and wanted to talk to me about that position.
DTH: What are the primary duties of your position?
BF: To tell you the truth, a lot of that stuff, we’re still trying to figure out. So far we’ve had two weeks of basketball camp, and I’ve just been trying to learn the ropes there. Then just try to move in to other things and see what I’ll be doing. I know I’ll handle a lot of the day-to-day logistics and travel and things like that, but the rest is still trying to be figured out. I’m still learning, but I’m just excited to work with Coach Williams and the staff that he has here. I’ve known a lot of these guys for a long time too. That makes things certainly more comfortable.
DTH: You’ve wanted to be involved in coaching for a while, but you left an assistant coaching position at Vanderbilt to take this one. Why?
