Fredrick will bring distance scoring for UK

May 22—Once CJ Fredrick left Rupp Arena on a March evening in 2018, he probably didn't think he'd ever play there again, or it would take a rare occasion.

The former Covington Catholic High School star was named the 2018 Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year and led his school to a KHSAA state championship and a 35-4 record.

The march to the state title was done in Rupp Arena, where Fredrick averaged 27.8 points with two 32-point games while shooting 63.6% from the floor during the Sweet Sixteen run. He was named MVP of the Sweet Sixteen.

Fredrick averaged 23.1 points per game in his senior season and shot 48.4% from 3-point range.

He was headed to Iowa, and the 6-foot-3 shooting guard did not get an offer from the University of Kentucky.

"No, Kentucky didn't recruit me in high school," Fredrick said in a Zoom meeting with the media. "I kind of was locked in on Iowa throughout the whole state tournament. I was honored by that commitment and that opportunity, so I never really thought of a different opportunity. But like I said, I'm super excited for this opportunity now. It's something that, as a kid, I never thought would happen.

Fredrick went in the transfer portal and decided on UK as his destination with John Calipari as his coach.

Fredrick, who will be a redshirt junior, quashed rumors that there had been interference from UK before he went in the transfer portal.

"Kentucky in no way had reached out to me before the portal," Fredrick said. "I went through the whole recruiting process when I was in the portal, and like I said I just felt like this was the best opportunity for me. I took my time. I went through all of the information and this was the place that I felt was best for me and my career."

Now, Calipari was the first coach to call Fredrick once he entered the portal.

Fredrick is from Cincinnati, but had a connection with northern Kentucky for a long time.

"I'm from Cincinnati and that's always going to be where I'm from," Fredrick said. "I love this city and everything about it, but as I got older and played high school basketball in Kentucky, that was a new family for me. My grandparents lived up the street. All my family lived up the street, so I had been going to Cov Cath games over in northern Kentucky since I was a little kid. I always loved that. It's home. So, I feel like I just have two great homes."

It didn't take much conversation with Calipari for Fredrick to know he wanted to get to Lexington.

"He just has this competitive drive even when he's talking to you," Fredrick said. "I'm a competitive person and I love to win, so the conversations with him were really cool. One thing specifically I liked about him is he didn't just sit there and tell me how great I was. We went through film and he showed me ways that I need to get better and showed me ways that I can improve my game, so that's something I really respected from him."

Fredrick is an elite shooter. He has hit a combined 83 3-pointers on 178 attempts in his two college seasons, a 46.6% mark.

After redshirting in 2018-19, Fredrick made 47 3-pointers during the 2019-20 campaign and averaged 10.2 points and 2.8 assists per game. This past season, he tallied 7.5 points per game and made 36 3s but was limited in the second half of the season with a lower leg injury.

Fredrick's 3-point percentage of 46.1% in 2019-20 led the Big Ten and was the best 3-point percentage by an Iowa freshman in school history. That mark went up to 47.4% this past season as a redshirt sophomore. He has 11 games with three or more 3-pointers.

His outside shooting could be a big plus for a UK team that struggled in that area in 2020-21.

"(Calipari) told me he needed me to come in, just make shots, set an example for these guys, come in the gym every day to work, and that's something I love to do. I did it in high school, I did it in college," Fredrick said.