Tag: CJ Fredrick

Kentucky losing guard CJ Fredrick and forward Daimion Collins to transfer portal

The Kentucky Wildcats are losing two pieces of their roster to the transfer portal.

The Kentucky Wildcats 2023-2024 roster took a hit on Friday morning as rotational guard and part-time starter CJ Fredrick and forward Daimino Collins are both entering the transfer portal. Both players announced on Twitter their decisions to enter the portal.

Fredrick is leaving Lexington after two years with the Wildcats program. He originally transferred into the program prior to the 2021-2022 season after two productive seasons with the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. During his two seasons with the Hawkeyes, he averaged 8.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists while starting in 52 games.

His start with the Wildcats would not be the one that was envisioned as he appeared in just one game due to a hamstring injury that required surgery. He also missed seven games this past season for the Wildcats due to multiple injuries. When on the court, Fredrick was solid for John Calipari’s program, averaging 6.1 points, 0.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists over 27 games and 22.3 minutes a night.

While he will be entering the transfer portal, Fredrick also says in his statement on Twitter that he will be considering professional options and will be maintaining his college eligibility in the process. While he has used five years of eligibility already, redshirting his true freshman season at Iowa, Fredrick still has one year of eligibility remaining thanks to the NCAA’s COVID-19 eligibility ruling, awarding him one extra season of eligibility.

Collins, a former five-star prospect never was able to find his footing with the Wildcats, averaging 2.4 points and 2.0 rebounds over 52 games. He’ll look for a fresh start elsewhere and while he hasn’t had the career that many have expected, should still be a popular name in the transfer portal this offseason thanks to his potential.

Kentucky, on the other hand, without Fredrick will look to improve upon a 22-12 record from this past season including 12-6 in SEC play. The Wildcats were a No.6 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament before being eliminated by Kansas State in the Round of 32.

Three Iowa players Badger fans need to know

Wisconsin heads to Iowa City to take on the No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes. Badger fans should be sure to know these three opposing players.

After getting blown out in its last two road games, Wisconsin (12-8) will look to reverse that trend on Monday evening in Iowa City against No. 19 Iowa (14-5).

To put it mildly, that will not be an easy task.

Carver-Hawkeye Arena has a well-deserved reputation as one of the toughest places to win on the road in the country, and Fran McCaffery’s Hawkeyes are arguably the Big Ten’s hottest team at the moment, having won four straight and eight of their last ten. That stretch includes victories over No. 12 Maryland, No. 19 Michigan, and No. 24 Rutgers, all of which came in Iowa City.

While Iowa was expected to be a solid team this season, I’m not sure anyone thought they would be this good, especially once one of its top players, senior guard Jordan Bohannon, opted to shut down his season after playing in ten games to undergo hip surgery. The loss of Bohannon’s leadership and productivity (career scoring average of 12.3 points per game, 39.8 percent three-point shooter) could have been devastating.

Instead, the Hawkeyes have managed to thrive in his absence, thanks in large part to the emergence of one of his teammates into a full-fledged superstar and a few others stepping up to the plate and taking on larger roles.

With that said, here are three players in Iowa’s rotation who Badger fans should make sure to keep an eye on in this matchup.

Luka Garza – Center

Current stats: 23.2 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.7 bpg, 56.1 FG%, 38.5 3P%

Jan 4, 2020; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes center Luka Garza (55) shoots the ball over Penn State Nittany Lions forward John Harrar (21) during the first half at The Palestra. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Garza was certainly one of the Big Ten’s better big men throughout his first two years at Iowa, but the 6-11, 260-pounder from Washington D.C. has taken a quantum leap in his third season.

The junior center’s production has absolutely exploded in 2019-20, to the point where he has launched  himself into  the conversation for National Player of the Year honors. Garza leads the Big Ten and ranks No. 5 nationally in scoring average, with the conference’s No. 3 field goal percentage. He also cleans up on the glass, currently sitting second in rebounds per game.

A multi-dimensional offensive threat who dominates the paint and can stretch the floor from beyond the arc, Garza has been straight-up unguardable at times for the Hawkeyes. He has scored in double figures in all but one game, a stretch that has included some jaw-dropping performances: Garza dropped 44 points (17-32 from the floor) in Iowa’s loss to Michigan in December and 34 (13-19) to go along with 12 rebounds in an 89-86 defeat to Penn State earlier this month.

Garza is coming off of another monster outing the last time out against Rutgers in which he racked up 28 points on 11-17 shooting to go along with 13 boards.

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