GAME ON: Fathers & Sons - a Series on the Relationships
Thursday, February 10, 2011
He’s Best know for his four-year starting career at Villanova, making two sweet sixteen and two elite eight appearances. He was also an eighth round pick for the 1984 Philadelphia 76ers, and former head coach at Brown University. But Frank “Happy” Dobbs is not the only one with impressive basketball credentials.
Following in his father’s footsteps is Frankie Dobbs, son of “Happy” Dobbs, a 6’ 3” transfer student at Bryant University who began his collegiate basketball career at Ohio University. He is fueled by love for the game of basketball and by the support he receives from his father, who as aseasoned veteran, knows the game through and through.
Coached Since Little League
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHaving coached Frankie since his Little League baseball and rec basketball years all the way through high school, Frank says, “It all happened right from the beginning.” Since he was young, Frankie always viewed his father as a role model, “not only on the basketball court but as a man as well.” Frank and his son have a great relationship on and off the court, but what makes it so special is their understanding of “how it all works.” They’ve been working together for so long that Frank knows when to back off and give Frankie his space, but always expects Frankie to play to the best of his ability. What makes their bond so tight is their ability to feed off of one another and the fact that Frankie is such a good listener. Frankie’s father still goes to all of his games to support him, and even though he is technically not his “coach” anymore, he is always pushing him to do better. Scoring a game-winning three-point shot against Farleigh Dickinson University with 2.4 seconds left in the game and, now averaging 13 ppg for the Bulldogs, along with starting all 24 games in the 2010-11 season, Frankie is the driving force of their offense.
Higher Standard
Naturally, Frank held his son to higher standard than the rest of the players he coached. Frank states, “Nobody’s expectations are higher than yours are to your own son.” While sometimes this frustrated Frankie, he knows now that it was for his own good. “At the end of the day I know he is only trying to help me, and I do listen to him, just in the heat of competition, emotions run high with both of us because we want to win so badly.”
Best Player and Person You Can Be
Impressive basketball skills are not the only thing Frankie has learned from his father over the years, but life skills as well. He says, “The most important thing I have learned from my father is that people are going to judge you no matter what. This applies to both life and basketball. You can’t control the judgments people make about you, you just have to try and be the best player and person you can be, and that’s all that you can ask for.” Frankie's sister is also a Division I women's basketball player. Alexis is freshman at American University in Washington, D.C.
Now in top-notch shape, and a star player at Bryant, Happy still thinks he can beat his son one-on-one, but Frankie thinks otherwise, saying, “That’s easy, I would win! But back in the day, I’m sure we would have had some heated one-on-one games, but I still would have won most of the time anyways!” Happy reluctantly adds that he would try his best to cheat a bit for the win over his son.
