The Kentucky Wildcats are currently ranked as the No. 5 team in the country and hold a 18-4 overall record with a 7-2 record in the SEC.
While the Cats are continuing to have success this season, they are doing it without someone who was expected to be a key contributor this season.
That person is CJ Fredrick who went down with a leg injury during the summer followed by a hamstring injury at the start of the season that resulted in him having to have surgery and miss his first season in Lexington.
Zach Schumaker recently caught up with Fredrick to talk about multiple topics, including how the injury took place, his recovery, and a timetable for his return.
Fredrick has been working this season to get back and ready for next year, and he says that his rehab is going really well.
“It’s coming along well. When I got hurt, at first it was tough for me mentally. I just had surgery just three months prior to my hamstring surgery. It was definitely what I needed to do. I have all season to rehab and get my body right and get ready for next season. The rehab is coming along well, starting to get a lot better, starting to do more things, so it’s going really well.”
Earlier in the summer, Fredrick had a leg injury that caused him to miss about 8-12 weeks, which he noted he came back from fine.
Then the hamstring issue happened.
“The first week I was back, I was driving baseline and my hamstring just kind of tweaked a little bit. It wasn’t anything major. Things were aligning right up to the Duke game, maybe I could be back, maybe not.”
Before the game, Calipari told him that he doubts he will play since he missed the entire summer but to be ready just in case. Fredrick then had an issue during pregame warmups.
“During warmups, I felt the whole adrenaline of being in The [Madison Square] Garden and I went up to dunk and I felt everything behind my leg just rip. I knew right away what it was, but I didn’t really say anything during the game, because coach said be ready, so I just sat on the bench.”
As for his timetable for a return to the court, Fredrick says the goal is to be fully healthy and ready to go by this summer.
“The goal is to be back this summer, fully healthy, fully conditioned, full basketball shape in the summer. I’m two months into my surgery right now. It’s a lot of mobility, stretching, strengthening, and these next two months are going to be more intense stretching, jogging, running into March and then trying to get back on the court so by the summer I’m full go with the team.”
Fredrick was poised to have a big season for the Wildcats providing even more shooting on the outside.
In his two seasons with the Iowa Hawkeyes, Fredrick averaged 8.8 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists. However, he shot 46.6% from the three-point line.
While it would have been nice to have Fredrick this season, it looks like he will be ready to go next season and the Cats are once again going to have one of the nation’s top teams.
You can check out everything Fredrick had to say here.
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