Tyler's time
Tornado sophomore forward Frederick blossoming into powerful force inside

By Mike Kilroy
Eagle Staff Writer

FOX CHAPEL — When Tyler Frederick was younger, he didn't like basketball.
Not one bit.
Because he was so tall (he's now a 6-foot-4 sophomore forward for the Butler boys basketball team), he was convinced to give the sport a shot in the seventh grade.
“I didn't play a minute,” Frederick said, smiling. “I didn't see any playing time at all.”
But Frederick worked at it. He received tutelage from Butler County Community College men's and women's basketball coach Dick Hartung. He played during the summer for an AAU team and he worked on developing skills to go with his tremendous athletic ability.
The results came rapidly.
“When I got to the eighth grade,” Frederick said, “I played in every minute of every game.”
Frederick, who had another big game against Woodland Hills with 19 points, 10 rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals, is now a staple for the Golden Tornado.
He's still raw and he admits as much.
“In the ninth grade, I had no idea what I was doing,” Frederick said, smiling again. “It was too fast. I did some AAU and now I'm catching on. I can get a lot better. There's a lot of stuff I haven't perfected in my game. There's a lot of things I still need to get down. I have a lot of work to go.”
Frederick could always jump — an asset he's put to good use this season.
In nine games, the lanky forward is averaging a team-leading 18.6 points per game for 7-2 Butler.
“He's as athletic a kid that's ever been in the Butler gymnasium,” said Butler boys basketball coach Matt Clement. “He's a sophomore and sometimes we get spoiled by the (28-point performance he had against Pine-Richland), and then he slows down one game, or has to deal with foul trouble and isn't quite as aggressive.”
Some of that can be attributed to Frederick's relative inexperience with the sport.
This is only his third full season of playing, after all.
“We have to realize a lot of his stuff is new to him,” Clement said. “He didn't pick up a basketball until the seventh grade, so that puts it more in perspective what he's been able to do.”
Frederick is also getting used to a new role.
He said he's never been looked at to carry a team, which he has done at times this season for Butler — on both ends of the floor.
Butler has a bevy of dangerous perimeter players.
Frederick is one of the Tornado's — and perhaps the section's — most dangerous inside players these days.
“It means a lot because I've never really had anyone have to rely on me before,” Frederick said. “People all the time tell me good job after the game. I wasn't really used to that because I wasn't really playing a lot. It's real big and it feels good to be able to help this team.”