Opinion: Eating Crow
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J.J. Frazier play a big part of it, I couldn't help but be reminded of what I heard
another coach say about the sophomore guard during the recruiting process.
To set the stage, I was sitting in the gym at Suwanee Sports Academy, the site of
many top AAU tournaments throughout the spring and summer. This particular
tournament, the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions, was being played during one
of the two "live" recruiting periods during April, which meant college coaches
could be in the gym. Tournament directors generally put media members and
coaches in the same sectioned off area. I was watching Frazier play with his
South Georgia Kings team against the Florida Rams, whose roster featured many high-major
prospects at the time including Florida point guard Kasey Hill and power forward
As the game progressed, I overheard a coach just ripping apart Mark Fox's decision to take
a commitment from Frazier.
"This kid can't play," said the SEC assistant coach, whose name I won't reveal.
"He can't play in our league. He's too small. He's not good enough to help them
win."
To be fair, that particular coach wasn't the only one who had that opinion. Many of
the coaches in the vicinity agreed with him that the Bulldogs had reached on
Frazier, who at the time of his commitment had no other high-major offers and
was not a nationally ranked prospect.
Give Fox and his staff credit. They undoubtedly heard much of the same from
their peers. From experience, I can tell you there aren't a ton of coaches out
there that would have had the confidence to trust their own evaluation and not
worry about what their peers in coaching were saying or what fans were saying on
message boards.
In the game referenced above, Frazier was matched up with Hill. Hill was ranked
as a five-star prospect and rightfully so at the time. He was one of the best
point guards I saw in that class and was playing at a truly high level. He got
the better of Frazier that day without question, but Hill also had a
significantly better supporting cast around him.
Back to Saturday's victory over Florida -- just as anybody watching Frazier and
Hill play during that AAU game would have had a hard time arguing that Frazier
was the better player, it would have been hard to watch the two play on Saturday
and not walk away feeling like Georgia might have found a gem in
Frazier.
A quick look at each player's stat line for the year supports that opinion.
Frazier, after producing 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists in Tuesday night's
win over Ole Miss is now averaging 9.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists per
game. He's also only averaging 1.5 turnovers in 28.3 minutes per night, good for
2.4:1 assist to turnover ratio. Hill is currently averaging 8.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and
4.1 assists per game while turning the ball 1.9 times in 30 minutes per night.
If you look at shooting percentages, Frazier has the edge. Compared to
Hill's 40.5 % from the field, 36.4% from 3-point range and 68.6% on free throws,
Frazier is 40.4% from the field, 39.4% from beyond the arc and a very impressive
84.9% from the charity stripe.
What I think may separate Frazier though are the intangibles. To be fair, I
never got to know Hill during the recruiting process like I did Frazier,
but it doesn't take long after talking to Frazier to walk away really impressed.
There is a confidence to him that borders on cockiness at times, but that's
likely a product of him being doubted his whole basketball career because of his
size. His confidence and calming presence on the court, in my opinion, is just
what this year's Georgia team needs. Despite being the youngest member of
Georgia's starting lineup, you can tell they at him as if he's a four-year
starter.
Frazier moved into the starting lineup for Georgia last week against Vanderbilt
after Juwan Parker went down with an Achilles tendon injury. At this point, it's
going to be hard for Fox to go back on that decision as the Bulldogs
have won three straight since he made the move.
As somebody that watches a ton of college basketball and covers basketball
recruiting as part of my job, I can tell you recruiting rankings do matter in
the big picture. Generally, the higher ranked players in the Rivals150 are the
ones going on to play in the NBA and usually the schools that sign the best
recruiting classes are the ones winning in March every year.
Every so often though, a story like Frazier's will come across. Few people
had heard of him when he committed to Georgia, and even fewer had seen him, much
like when Tim Jennings committed to play for Mark Richt out of nowhere.
Frazier's path to success at Georgia has been a fun ride, and I'm predicting the
best is yet to come.
