Monday, April 12, 2004

Buck Fredrick the real deal on and off the court

Well, we looked at Anthony Morrow earlier in the week. Now lets look at Zam "Buck" Fredrick. Bottom line - Buck is a winner. He has been on his high school varsity team since he was in 8th grade. They have been to 5 straight state championship games. They won 3 times, including recently in his senior year. Some stats of interest:

8th grade......... 10 points/game
freshman.......... 20 points/game
sophomore....... 25 points/game
junior................ 31 points/game
senior............... 34 points/game (and 8.5 boards, 5 assists, 3.5 steals, shot 52%FG, 79% FT and 42% 3pt)

And how about these academic stats:

#1 in his class
4.5 GPA
1200 SAT score

His game is a combination of long-distance range and ability to get to the hoop. He handles the ball well and seems to get to the free throw line A LOT. He is a big guard at 6ft, 200lb. When I saw him in person, my opinion was that he was not quite ready for a grueling full ACC season. He will benefit from Coach Hewitt's off-season conditioning would help. The great thing is that he is not expected to fill an empty hole. He will have an opportunity to grow and contribute as a #1 back-up with both Jack and Bynum at the PG spots and Elder at SG. He will not have to play major minutes but should defnitely be in the regular rotation.

Just another example of the quality young men Coach is recruiting - smart, well-spoken, talented, coachable. Everything indicates that he is excited about getting to campus and runnin' with his new team. Definitely looks like he will help carry on the legacy for the program.

To see more pictures from my gallery when I saw him in person - click here (the password is "stinger92").