Where does this leave Iowa?
Scott Dochterman, Iowa beat writer: Iowa mitigated Fredrick’s loss when Jordan Bohannon elected to return for a sixth season. Bohannon, who shifts off the point, holds Iowa records in assists (639), 3-pointers made (364), free-throw percentage (.887) and games played (143). He ranks ninth in Iowa career scoring with 1,638 points.
But Fredrick’s departure for Kentucky creates hard feelings in Iowa City, in particular because rumors swirled about this possibility even before the NCAA tournament. Second-seeded Iowa dropped a second-round matchup with Oregon, and Fredrick played only 13 minutes with no points, rebounds or assists.
What he brings to Kentucky
Kyle Tucker, Kentucky beat writer: A no-doubt outside threat. The Wildcats added a good 3-point shooter in Davidson transfer Kellan Grady (38.2 percent last season) and return a promising marksman in sophomore Dontaie Allen (39.7 percent last season), but Fredrick is a certified sniper (46.6 percent over two seasons). Taken in total, that group of shooters gets Kentucky a whole lot closer to modern offense than we’ve seen in recent years.
In announcing the addition of Fredrick, John Calipari also cited solid defense and a clean assist-to-turnover ratio. He averaged 2.3 assists and 0.8 turnovers in two years and his turnover percentage (6.9) was second-lowest among qualifying major-conference players last season, per KenPom.com. This is a plug-and-play contributor from Day 1. His sweet shooting stroke and Kentucky ties — Fredrick led Covington Catholic to the state title at Rupp Arena in 2018 — will make him an instant fan favorite.
Should there be concern with his injuries?
Tucker: It’s definitely something to monitor. Fredrick missed a few games each of his two seasons at Iowa with nagging injuries. This year it was a lower-leg issue that kept him out of four games and seemed to hamper him late in the season. Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery said in March that he did not expect any surgery was needed and Fredrick would be healthy when the 2021-22 season begins. The other good news for Kentucky on that front is it doesn’t have to lean heavily on Fredrick thanks to Grady, Allen and maybe even Davion Mintz back. It will just be a rare luxury to have a guy that absolutely cannot be left open for a change.
(Photo: Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
