University of Kentucky senior guard CJ Fredrick announced his intentions of entering his name in the transfer portal on Friday.
Fredrick, a Covington Catholic alumnus, played one season at Kentucky after playing two seasons at Iowa. He appeared in 26 games and made 15 starts during his time in Lexington.
“It has been a dream come true to play for Coach Cal (John Calipari), the University of Kentucky and the best fans in the world in Big Blue Nation. This experience has been so much better than I could have ever imagined. I have learned so much from Coach Cal on and off the court and above all I am most grateful to him for teaching me how to be a servant leader,” Fredrick said in an Instagram post.
Fredrick’s college career has been met with much adversity, battling through various injuries. When healthy, Fredrick was one of the best perimeter shooters in the country, the nation’s leading returner in career 3-point field-goal percentage (46.6%) with a minimum of 150 attempts after his two seasons at Iowa.
He missed four games his sophomore season due to injury and in his initial year at Kentucky missed the entire 2021-22 season after undergoing hamstring surgery. At Kentucky, he dealt with a hand injury that sidelined him for three games and a rib injury that forced him to miss four more games. He averaged 6.1 points in his lone season at Kentucky, connecting on 31% of 3-point attempts and dishing out 1.5 assists per contest.
Fredrick is set to graduate in May and stated his options are open.
“Having fulfilled this lifetime dream, I feel it is in my best interest to explore every option for my future for so many reasons. In addition to considering professional options, I’ll be entering the portal while maintaining my college eligibility,” Fredrick said.
His accolades at Covington Catholic are a long list which include the 2018 Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year, leading the Colonels to the 2018 KHSAA state title in which he was named the Sweet 16 Most Valuable Player. Fredrick averaged 23.1 points per game in his senior season and is the fourth all-time leading scorer in Covington Catholic program history.
“I enjoyed coaching CJ. What I loved most was that he never changed as a person or competitor despite dealing with all of the injuries. He got back up every time and did whatever he could do for his team. He knows he’ll always have a supporter in me and I wish him nothing but the best,” Calipari said in a tweet Friday morning.
Fredrick has a year of college eligibility left and should be highly sought after in the portal with his shooting ability.
