John Calipari said just a few days ago that CJ Fredrick was a “special” player after an impressive all-around performance against Missouri Western State. With the regular season still just a few days away, Kentucky fans are quickly learning what the Wildcats’ head coach meant.
Fredrick came to Lexington with the reputation as an elite outside shooter; connecting on 83 of 178 (46.6 percent) 3-point attempts during two years at Iowa will do that. After transferring to UK, he sat out of all of the 2021-22 season due to a hamstring injury but was still widely viewed as the Wildcats’ top shooter coming into 2022-23.