John Calipari explains severity of CJ Fredrick injury

Kentucky basketball cruised to a rather unremarkable, 96-56 win against North Florida on Wednesday night before six days off and head coach John Calipari is hoping to use that time to get healthy, including wing CJ Fredrick. Fredrick left the game against North Florida in the second half, but Calipari didn’t expect it to be a long term issue.

Fredrick had a cramp, according to Calipari. Obviously not a major concern going forward, but the Kentucky head coach relayed the ire it caused in the moment.

“With him, it was a cramp. And he says, ‘Even when I feel it cramp up I get scared.’ So he was in there and I walked in and I said, ‘Are you alright?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’m good, but I got scared,'” Calipari said.

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Fredrick transferred to Kentucky from Iowa prior to the 2021-22 season, which was derailed as a result of a bevy of injuries. One of the injuries that slowed Fredrick last year was a bum hamstring, so the fear on Wednesday was only natural.

Fredrick outlined the type of play Kentucky fans can expect from him

Fredrick transferred to Kentucky last year after two seasons with Iowa, where he averaged 8.8 points per game over 52 starts with the Hawkeyes. As he works to get back on the court this year, he told reporters what he hopes fans will see from him.

“I hope they see someone that just plays super hard,” Fredrick said during the Kentucky Kroger Tour at Georgetown. “Someone that’s going to make shots and just compete on both ends of the floor and make the right play always. Just help the team in any way I can.”

Kentucky is looking to build off a strong 2021-22 season. The Wildcats finished 26-8 overall, 14-4 in SEC play and became a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.