LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky fans got a brief look at CJ Fredrick last week when the sharpshooting transfer guard won the 3-point shootout at Big Blue Madness in Rupp Arena, but even the UK coaching staff hasn’t had the chance to see Fredrick play live much.
Frederick has had a lingering leg injury and was thought to have returned last month, but UK coach John Calipari said during Wednesday’s Media Day that Fredrick first practiced in live competition yesterday, briefly.
“CJ’s been hurt,” Calipari said. “But he can really shoot the ball, and I can’t wait until we can get him on the court. He’s been on the court just 15 minutes, so we haven’t seen him.”
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Fredrick, who connected on 47% of his 3-pointers during two years at Iowa, said he’s participated in non-contact drills and is slowly getting back into live work.
“I’m pretty much back,” Fredrick said. “It’s just at this point, taking a little bit of time off. You just have to be smart with your body.”
Fredrick was a standout for Covington Catholic and was named the 2018 Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year. He’s unsure if he’ll play in Friday’s Blue-White scrimmage in Lexington.
“If I feel good, I’ll probably go out there for a little bit and play, but if I’m sore and need more time to rehab, I’ll probably just take it off,” he said. “I think the main goal is for me to be 100% by Nov. 9.”
That day is No. 10 Kentucky’s season opener, in which it faces No. 9 Duke in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
It’s the year of the transfer for Kentucky basketball, and Fredrick could be one of four transfers to make their Wildcat debut in that game, along with Sahvir Wheeler (Georgia), Kellan Grady (Davidson) and Oscar Tshiebwe (West Virginia).
Calipari said Wednesday that it’s unlikely the UK program will continue to rely on transfers in future years, but for this season, transfers are expected to play a big role.
“Kellan, he struggled early because he’s never played this fast, but he is not struggling now,” Calipari said. “Sahvir, I told him, 'You’re not getting four turnovers a game, that ain’t happening here', and then all of a sudden, you see what he’s doing. You look at Oscar, he’s 255 pounds with 7% body fat. He’s flying. The pro day, they said, we didn’t know he could move his feet that way.”
Each of those three players were picked to All-SEC preseason teams.
Having veterans is a bit of a foreign feeling for Calipari, who has, in recent years, frequently played one-and-done freshmen. He said he’d forgotten the perks of having older players on a roster.
“I kind of forget that it takes one thing off your plate,” he said.
Hayes Gardner can be reached at hgardner@gannett.com ; Twitter: @HayesGardner .
