Fredrick to play for South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Former South Carolina basketball star Zam Fredrick finally got his wish - to have his son, Buck, join his college team.

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The elder Fredrick, who led the NCAA with a 28.9-point a game average in 1980-81, said his son committed to the Gamecocks on Wednesday after meeting with coach Dave Odom.

"There are a lot of happy people around campus, me included," Fredrick said Thursday.

The younger Fredrick, named Zam II but called "Buck," is a 6-foot point guard who had spent his first two years at Georgia Tech after starring at Calhoun County High, where his father was coach.

Fredrick would have to sit out next season, then have two years of eligibility left. The older Fredrick hoped Buck could enroll in summer school and be ready to practice with the team this fall.

South Carolina athletic spokesman Steve Fink said Odom was out of town and unavailable for comment. However, NCAA rules prevent athletic personnel from talking about prospects not officially part of the team.

With Fredrick joining, South Carolina has now welcomed back two past high-school stars who left the state. Earlier this spring, guard Devan Downey of Chester High committed to the Gamecocks after spending his freshman year at Cincinnati.

Downey, like Fredrick, would also have to wait a season before playing because of NCAA transfer rules.

Fredrick would give the Gamecocks a ball handler and a scorer. With Downey and Fredrick on the floor together, "it would be like having two point guards in there," said Zam Sr.

The elder Fredrick said Buck and Downey had talked several times about playing together on their home university - and how it might lure other rising stars to the Gamecocks the next few years. "Make no mistake, they knew what they wanted to communicate with their commitments," Zam Fredrick said.

South Carolina will have to do some juggling to reach the NCAA limit of 13 scholarship players. The addition of Downey and Fredrick, plus five commitments, would give the Gamecocks 15 on the roster. However, forward Keving Palacios decided to leave this week, opening one spot.

When asked about numbers crunching last month before the commitments of Downey and Fredrick, Odom said it was part of his job to work out roster problems and that he'd take care of any logjam.

Zam Sr. said his family would "trust that coach Odom would do the right thing."

Buck Fredrick was the fourth-leading scorer for the Yellow Jackets this past season at 10.6 points a game. He averaged just under four assists while starting 18 of his 28 games. However, Fredrick had 97 turnovers, about a fifth of Tech's total of 499 last season.

The elder Fredrick says his son didn't seem a good fit with Georgia Tech. "Instead of fighting through it for four years and not really enjoy yourself, you make a change," he said. "Now, he can seek the peace and happiness he deserves."

When Buck chose to leave, the family had one target in South Carolina.

It has been 25 years since Zam Fredrick lit up the old Carolina Coliseum with his scoring. First-year-coach Bill Foster unleashed Fredrick, a senior, who had played sparingly a season earlier under the late Frank McGuire and finished with an average of 7 points.

Fredrick was inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame in 2002.

Zam II showed flashes of his father's scoring talent, averaging better than 34 points a game his senior season in high school. He was named the state's "Mr. Basketball."

When asked if a second-generation Fredrick could put up the numbers he did, Zam Sr., said, "Maybe so. It's going to be fun to see."