Fred Benjamin has a commanding presence. Standing 6-foot-10, he barely clears the doorways in the halls of Memorial Gymnasium, where his office is located. While his height and deep, booming voice will catch anyone's attention, his ability to relate to student-athletes on a personal level is what makes him unique in his role as director of academic support.
 
Since June 2014, Benjamin has tutored student-athletes in the classroom. But his role quickly expanded. Benjamin doubles as a life coach. He mentors student-athletes on everything from setting a path after graduation to managing everyday challenges that come with being a student-athlete.
 
His tough, no-nonsense approach is mixed with just enough empathy drawn from his own experiences as a former two-sport student-athlete whose journey was at times met with fear and doubt.
 
Benjamin can relate to student-athletes because he once stood where they currently stand. A former two-sport collegiate athlete, Benjamin excelled in academics, athletics and even acting, appearing He Got Game and the 2007 blockbuster American Gangster, where he played Wilt Chamberlain. He has also performed in the off-Broadway production of Joe Fearless.
 
"You can't work with young people if there isn't any trust, or they don't think you understand or have any kind of empathy," said Benjamin, who played professional basketball in Europe and Asia, as well as enjoying the NBA experience through exhibition play with the Denver Nuggets. "There is a big difference between empathy and sympathy, and a lot of people, when they get to Division 1 sports, no one feels sorry for them. 
 
"It's not sympathy. It's empathy. Empathy is a very powerful thing, because what that can do is it can bring people in as opposed to turn people off."
 
Today, tales of his college days are often shared with students sitting across from his desk. They offer both a blueprint in how to overcome challenging situations and a reminder they don't have to struggle alone.
 
"Sometimes your best coaches and advisors are people who have gone through a lot of adversity," Benjamin said.
  
Benjamin, a native of New York City, had the success in school one would expect from the child of two doctors. Growing up he excelled outside the classroom, as well. An accomplished basketball player who also excelled in the classroom, Benjamin was recruited by several top academic institutions.
 
Like many teenagers leaving home for the first time, Benjamin sought an opportunity to move far from home. He eventually accepted a basketball scholarship to Vanderbilt University, where he also played for the SEC-champion lacrosse team.
 
On the hardwood and in the classroom, Benjamin was in a constant battle to prove himself.
 
Benjamin immediately excelled academically. He was earning straight A's and producing work superior to many of his classmates. But he was dealt a personal setback in his first year at Vanderbilt after the loss of his father. A period of doubt, adjustment and recovery followed before Benjamin found his true sanctuary - academics.

He found power through education and writing, inspired by not only his own intellectual capacity, but also by surrounding himself with like-minded individuals as he flourished in his major field of study. 
 
However, early during his junior year, Benjamin met with several calculus professors who accused him of cheating. To try to prove his work was falsified, they wrote five problems on the board and asked him to complete them.
 
"I answered all five," Benjamin said.
 
That is when the faculty realized he was a serious student. At that time, he began working with professors and graduate students on experiments in the field of developmental psychology. 
 
Yet, he didn't receive the same recognition from his coaches. Despite establishing himself as a formidable interior presence in practice, he received limited playing time in games. He grew increasingly frustrated and needed to talk to someone.
 
One night during his freshman year, Benjamin went to the dorm room of senior Will Perdue, who was the Southeastern Conference's Player of the Year before enjoying a 13-year NBA career. Like Benjamin, Purdue had struggled to receive playing time his freshman year.
 
Perdue told Benjamin, essentially, that riding the bench was the way it was for underclassmen, even if they deserve to play.
 
It wasn't the advice he hoped to hear.
 
The next two years were not a positive experience from a basketball standpoint, Benjamin remembers. He received limited playing time his sophomore year. During his junior year, when he expected his minutes to increase, Benjamin injured his knee, which sidelined him most of the season. He struggled to heal, missed more playing time than he expected, and as the injury lingered, the coaching staff questioned whether he was milking it.
 
"People weren't believing me for some reason," he said. "I needed a fresh start."
 
Along with a switch athletically, Benjamin wanted to immerse himself in an atmosphere that he could find every day cultural relevance and personal growth at a historically black college. After his junior year, he transferred to Norfolk State, where he continued to thrive in the classroom and began to dominate on the court. 
 
He helped lead Norfolk State to a 22-10 record in 1992 while averaging 10.1 points per game. He was named Norfolk State's most improved player and selected to the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association all-tournament team. 
 
In 1992, he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in psychology, and was the highest-ranking senior in his graduating class with a 4.0 grade point average. In addition, he was a member of the Alpha Sigma Nu Honor Society and made the National Dean's List.
  
Every student athlete is immersed in a grinding lifestyle from the first day they step foot on campus.
 
"This is probably one of the hardest things they've ever had to do on a day-to-day basis — going to class, eating the right food, going to practice, taking care of your body, dealing with the physical and mental fatigue they've never had to deal with before," said Rex Walters, head coach of the Dons' men's basketball team. "The life of a college student athlete is different than anything they've ever experienced before."
 
Walters, currently in his seventh season at USF, recognized the need for someone, outside the coaching staff, who could mentor and counsel the student athletes. 
 
At the time, Benjamin had left a job as human development instructor and head basketball coach at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn., where he collaborated on curriculum design and taught multiple sections, to enroll at USF to earn his master's in international and multi-cultural education. In addition to taking classes, he was working as an academic councilor for USF's men's and women's basketball players.
 
But there was clearly an opportunity to expand his role.
 
"Fred's innate ability to connect with student-athletes is what makes him so special," said Julie Ross, USF's associate athletic director who oversees compliance and student services, which includes academic support. "He works tirelessly to get at the core of what motivates students, because he knows this will help ensure academic and personal success. Fred is true mentor, advisor, teacher and advocate for student-athletes."
 
Said Walters: "It just started out as tutoring, but he was so good at it. He had such a good relationship with our guys, we just felt he would be great in terms of academic support and tutoring and mentoring our players."
 
The duties of this new position were conducive to the type of fulfillment he was searching for at the time. Benjamin spent many years as a teacher and basketball coach, but he felt he was seen solely as a coach. He came to USF looking, in part, for a new identity.
 
"I realized that if you don't want to be seen as one dimensional, then you have to go out into a realm of people. You have to divorce yourself from that stuff, in the sense of the coaching."
 
In the time he's spent with the student-athletes, Benjamin has listened, talked them through the stresses that arise in their lives, helped them chart a path after graduation, and more. 
 
"He talks to our guys about graduate school," Walters said. "He talks to them about relationships and how to cultivate good relationships on campus and off campus; about being a true professional. 
 
"Now they're getting it from another source, a guy who's played at a high level but who is not their coach. He's a mentor who's walked in their shoes and he's done it at a high level and has been very successful doing it."
 
Benjamin believes his role is to develop well-rounded student-athletes. Academic success is one component, but there are certain skills outside the classroom that are pivotal for men and women to learn while in college.
 
"The traditional aspect is the academic advising — provide the support and direct the kids in the right direction to be able to have a successful experience," Benjamin said. "My key thing is the word, 'experience.' Experiences are not just necessarily about the academic experience, but it's about the experience as a whole — be a part of the community, emotional intelligence, understanding the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. All of these things are important tools for them to have, not only in the realm of academics, but also in handling all the things that come into it."
 
Kruize Pinkins, a 6-foot-7 forward for the Dons' men's basketball team from Marianna, Fla., transferred to USF in 2013 after spending his first two years at Chipola (Fla.) College. On the court, he made an immediate impact. He averaged 12.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and eventually earned a WCC honorable mention selection.
 
But in the classroom, Pinkins had trouble adjusting to the academic demands of USF.
 
"When I first got here, it didn't go as expected," Pinkins said. "Transferring from a junior college to here was very different. It was a lot more work. I hit a bump in the road where my grades weren't where I wanted them to be, but Fred was there for me."
 
With tutoring and moral support, Pinkins' grades improved.
 
"He helped me out a lot, just keeping my head up, saying 'you'll be fine, you'll be alright, you just have to stick with it,' " Pinkins said. "For him to help me like that, it really means a lot."
 
Today, Pinkins and Benjamin talk almost every day.
 
"Every time I see him we have a good hour-long talk, just about how I'm doing, how basketball is going, how school is going, and how he is doing," Pinkins said. "We have a good relationship."
  
Benjamin has been mentoring the men's and women's basketball teams since spring of 2014, and already Walters sees the impact Benjamin has had on the programs.
 
"It's the way they talk, the way they act," he said. "Their grades have improved."
 
Players, coaches and administration all appear to agree that it's Benjamin's ability to relate to players that allows him to gain their trust and establish instantaneous relationships. 
 
Much of his story is relatable. And it's why he understands the power of support.
 
Before every game, Benjamin sends a text message, personalized for each player, conveying some sort of motivational memorandum.
 
"It depends on the individual, but sometimes it's something like, 'relax. Have fun. You will play well today. If you believe in you as much as I believe in you, you'll be fine,' " Benjamin said. "What I try to do is be that positive person."
 
And what does it mean to the players?
 
"Fred is an unbelievably great guy," Pinkins said. "He cares about everybody. He understands what we go through as athletes. Sometimes athletes need messages like that to help them prepare for a game. When it comes from a guy who cares so much about you and you care so much about him, it really helps you get going."
 
Kris Anderson, Communications Assistant
*edited for accuracy per Benjamin's request  (Feb. 27)