Defense, not shooting, will be what keeps CJ Fredrick on the court

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On3 image — Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio

Kentucky redshirt senior CJ Fredrick is an elite shooter. Let’s go ahead and get that out of the way before we dive into the rest of this article. During two seasons at Iowa before transferring to UK, Fredrick shot 49.4 percent from 3-point range on 178 total attempts. That sample size is big enough to not be flukey. He’s a coin-flip outside shooter; even at the highest level of basketball, that’s rare. It was the driving reason why head coach John Calipari recruited him to Lexington out of the transfer portal.

But it’s not the reason he’s going to play a major role for Kentucky this season.

“The other things he does, he moves his team, he plays so hard, he talks on defense,” Calipari said after Kentucky’s 56-38 exhibition win over Missouri Western State on Sunday. “Did you see him push Jacob (Toppin) to a man and then he went and guarded the other man? I mean, it’s nice when you have older guys that really know what they’re doing out there. He’s special.”

Everyone knows about Fredrick’s shooting capabilities. He put them on full display Sunday night in Rupp Arena, leading the ‘Cats with 15 points on 4-6 shooting from deep. The “Kellan Grady Role” was on full display as Fredrick constantly darted around screens and popped open for clean looks. If UK had the ball in transition, it was going to him for a quick shot.

This is just beautiful transition execution. A major emphasis this season has to be finding CJ Fredrick in transition for 3's. Wallace pushes the ball and Fredrick knows exactly where to run and is looking for the ball immediately. The ball has to continue to find him. pic.twitter.com/pPyG9IzBBW
— Brandon Ramsey (@BRamseyKSR) October 31, 2022

But Fredrick’s effort on defense against the Griffons should be the main takeaway. There wasn’t a player on either team running harder all evening long on both ends of the floor than he was.

“I take a lot of pride in doing other things than just shooting,” Fredrick said after Sunday’s win. “I know what my role is here, it’s to shoot shots and to make shots. I understand that’s my role. But I know there’s a lot of little things that I do that can help us.”

Defense is one of those things, if not the top priority. Calipari is famous for not playing someone who won’t commit on that end of the floor. With how valuable Fredrick’s outside shooting is, Kentucky will absolutely need him on the court as much as possible this season. If he’s willing to give that kind of effort every single night on both ends, his role in the lineup will be solidified.

The elephant in the room, however, is that of his health. Fredrick hadn’t played a real college basketball game in 18 months until Sunday night. He sat out all of last season due to a leg injury. Sure, he’s participated in a few summer preseason games and a scrimmage here or there, but there’s no replicating that in-game experience against a real college opponent. Fredrick came away feeling as though he’s in tip-top shape.

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“It felt great. I had no problems, I thought I was running around great today,” Fredrick added. “Didn’t really get tired at all. Never felt anything in my legs. It was funny, I made a joke to Jacob, I was like man we go so hard in practice, this felt easy. It flew by.”

“It’s great. I was so proud of him, I was so excited for him,” Senior forward Jacob Toppin said. “All the things he’s been through, a lot of people don’t see what he did off the cameras, off the books. How much time he put into his body just to get back to this position and for him to play like that, to put up shots confidently like that, I love it for him.”

It also helped Fredrick to see that first shot go in. Calipari drew up a play for him right out of the gate, which saw Fredrick rise up off a Daimion Collins screen for an easy mid-range jumper. Fredrick was fouled on the attempt — which went in — and connected on the ensuing free throw.

“As a shooter, when you see your first one go, you know it’s gonna be a good night,” Fredrick added. “Coach ran a set for me right away and I hit my first one and then it was just playing after that.”