It’s not often you see J.J. Frazier in such a reflective mood.

Typically, Frazier is all about the here and now, focused solely on what he needs to do to help the Georgia basketball team secure another win.

That wasn’t quite the case on Tuesday.

With Wednesday’s home finale against Auburn now mere hours away, the Bulldog senior sounded a bit melancholy as he talked with reporters about a career that not many predicted would happen when he first signed with the program four years ago.

“I really had no expectations, honestly. I really didn’t put a set goal like scoring 1,000 points or getting 900 rebounds,” Frazier said. “I wanted to be the best player I could possibly be. I feel like I got there--I feel that I am.”

To argue otherwise would be an operation in futility.

Standing just 5-10 and 155 pounds, nobody has come up bigger than Frazier over the course of the past three games since Yante Maten went down with a right knee sprain, scoring 36, 28 and 29 points during that time.

For those counting, Frazier comes into Wednesday night’s game against Auburn (6:30 p.m., SEC Network) with 1,512 points, eighth in Georgia history, and only five points behind Shandon Anderson, who currently sits in seventh.

“It’s amazing. Starting from his freshman year to now, to see him grow,” senior teammate Kenny Paul Geno said. “We knew he was a special player his freshman year and learning behind Charles and Kenny, to see him now is amazing. The things he’s done the last three games, especially without Yante … he took over, and that’s why he’s a special kid. He has a big heart and he wants to win.”

Competitive is an adjective you hear a lot to describe Frazier, who laughed he probably weighed 120 pounds when head coach Mark Fox offered him a scholarship while playing for tiny Faith Baptist Christian School in Ludowici, Ga.

But while many scoffed at Fox’s decision to sign the Glennville native, Frazier and his head coach have had the last laugh.

Frazier admits proving Fox correct has been a major part of his motivation while at UGA.

“I just wanted to show people that Coach was right,” Frazier said. “I knew I could play, I think Coach knew I could play. I wanted to prove that Coach knew what he was doing when he recruited me.”

Fox smiled when told what Frazier had to say.

“I think what motivates J.J. is he loves to compete. He just loves to compete and he loves to play, and I think that’s evident to everybody who watches him,” Fox said. “He’s made a lot of huge baskets for us over the years because he loves to compete. It’s nice for him to say, but I really think what drives him is his love for the game.”

Fox isn’t the only coach who feels that way.

South Carolina coach Frank Martin and Kentucky coach John Calipari have both gone out of their way to speak with Frazier after games, offering their own personal words of admiration and praise.

“Probably the two best things I’ve heard is how hard I play, and my class. I take pride in both of those things,” Frazier said. “To hear that back at me, that I’ve done that over my career is probably the best accolade I could have.”

A lot of people have certainly been proven incorrect when it comes to Frazier.

Not only were the Bulldogs the only major college basketball program to offer Frazier an opportunity to play, but apparently, a section of Georgia’s own fan base wondered the same thing and even took time to write Fox letters questioning why in the world he would waste a scholarship on someone like him.

“Oh sure, I got them asking why are you signing this guy?” Fox recalled. “Usually that goes right in the garbage anyway, but he was unusual because he wasn’t very big, he was from a small town in South Georgia and no one really saw him. But just because he was from a small down didn’t mean he shouldn’t get the chance everybody else gets.”

Frazier said he’ll be forever grateful.

“I don’t know what a typical player-coach relationship is, but I do know he means a lot to me. That’s my guy,” Frazier said. “He took a chance on me and me proving him right and proving everybody else wrong, just more so for the fact that he didn’t waste a scholarship on a two-star coming out of high school, 120 pounds. That gave me a lot of motivation and I’m thankful for the opportunity he gave me.”