Kentucky basketball: Iowa transfer C.J. Fredrick signs with John Calipari and Wildcats

Kentucky basketball landed former Iowa shooting guard CJ Fredrick from the transfer portal, adding a sharpshooter to John Calipari’s lineup.

Kentucky basketball’s backcourt is expanding with the addition of CJ Fredrick from Iowa.

The former three-star shooting guard announced his signing with Kentucky with an official statement posted to the school’s website.

“I am very excited for this new opportunity in my basketball career,” Fredrick said. “I really appreciate the confidence Coach Cal has in me. I am looking forward to going to work and developing as a player with Coach Cal, the staff and my future teammates. Thank you to Coach (Fran) McCaffery, the staff, my teammates and Iowa fans for three memorable years. I cannot wait to get back on the floor at Rupp Arena to help this team win and make Big Blue Nation proud.”

As the Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year in high school at Covington Catholic, it was a no-brainer for him to come home.

CJ Fredrick gives Kentucky a reliable shooter outside

Kentucky welcomed Fredrick to the family with a snazzy video on Twitter.

In his own statement, Calipari praised Fredrick’s all-around game.

“As we all know, CJ is a terrific shooter, but what stuck out to make on tape is he takes care of the ball – he has an excellent assist-to-turnover ratio – and he can hold his own defensively. He guarded the best guard on the other team in just about everything I have seen,” Calipari said.

Fredrick picks his spots and doesn’t put his team at a disadvantage by giving up the ball.

The 6-foot-4 guard redshirted in 2018-19, then set an Iowa freshman record for the highest three-point percentage in program history.

That redshirt freshman season, Fredrick became the only player from a major conference since 1993 to post a 2-to-1 ratio with at least 65 assists while also shooting 46 percent or better from three-point distance. He led the Big Ten in true shooting percentage.

This past season he ranked seventh in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten in turnover percentage while shooting 47.4 percent from distance.

Calipari already grabbed guard Kellan Grady from Davidson as a transfer this offseason, but the Wildcats are still searching for a true point guard to run the show.

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