Saturday, April 17, 2004

Fredrick learning how to send the alley-oop to J-Smith

Check it out: (story here).

Odia is joined on the USA team by 6-2 guard Zam Frederick of St. Matthews, S.C., and 6-6, 230-pound forward Jeremis Smith of Fort Worth, Texas, who have signed with national runner-up Georgia Tech.

"Being a Georgia Tech recruit makes it harder for us now that they made it to the national championship game," Smith said. "That raises expectations for us."

Both were 3,000-point scorers, but they worked well together in practice, as Frederick threw alley-oops of the backboard to Smith for crowd-pleasing dunks.

"Everybody is trying to make a name for himself; it doesn't matter which game you play in," Frederick said. "It's what you do when you get to school. People can shine early and fall off. We're hungry. We want to show what we can do."