Smart v. Study Smart

There is a person in my class the is very, very smart. "He" receives great grades and is always prepared for class. A discussion came up between myself and some others about this person. No one was saying anything negative about this person, but someone mentioned that "he" was not smarter than us rather "he" just studied more and was only study smart. 

I find this argument to be very interesting. It may be true that "he" studies more than the average person... but doesn't that mean that "he" IS smart? 

"He" is smart enough to study harder than everyone else. "He" is study smart because "he" is smart. 

This is like saying "he is only better at baseball because he plays all the time." Or "I would be as strong as him if I worked out as much as him." 

It doesn't make you any more successful by belittling the accomplishments of others.