JJ Frazier, a senior at Faith Baptist Christian Academy in Ludowici, realized a dream Wednesday, signing to play basketball with the University of Georgia.
He verbally committed to his favorite team in February. Frazier’s letter allowed Bulldogs’ coach Mark Fox to announce that the Glennville native will head to Athens next season.
According to gerogiadogs.com, Fox said, “JJ is a quick and dynamic playmaking point guard. He has the ability to create plays for himself and other people. I really like his natural instincts for the game.”
Frazier averaged 26.2 points, 4.9 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game last season for the Crusaders, who won 33 games. The 5-9, 160-pound guard is considered the state’s top 2013 prospect at his position and has been an impact player for the Crusaders since the seventh grade.
Frazier also played AAU ball for the South Georgia Kings.
“It felt good,” Frazier said. “It’s been a long time since they offered and I verbally committed. So when I signed those papers it was a huge relief. Now I can just go out and play my season. I don’t have anything to worry about anymore.”
Crusader coach Matthew Sellars said Faith Baptist has several players who signed to play college ball the past few years. Many went to Division II and III schools. Last year, Jaquez Motley signed to Division I Texas Southern.
“He (Frazier) is the first to go to a big conference, the SEC. That is a huge conference,” Sellars said, adding that Frazier will have a lot of support this season.
“He has carried the load and he definitely carried the load for us last year,” Sellars said. “I have a pretty good group of surrounding teammates playing around him this year. They are bigger, stronger and more talented. And it will actually allow him to play his role as a point guard better this season and actually help him prepare for college. He will be able to really play his role and while his points per game may decrease, his assists will go up, his steals will go up and he will be able to work on being a better point guard.”
Always competitive, Frazier said, “The next big thing for us is to win the national championship. I think the state championship will be locked up and in the bag for us … hopefully we can get this national championship out of the way and bring one back to Faith Baptist.”
“It is a tremendous honor for us,” FBCA Principal and Pastor Terry Sellars said. “It makes us feel validated in some way. We are often overlooked because we are in this little corner of Georgia, but I have to give a lot of credit to not just our school but his family. His mom and dad have been extremely supportive of us and his education.”
Frazier plans to major in sports medicine and become a sports trainer. His dream is to make it to the NBA.
“But if I don’t get there, I will be majoring in something that when I do graduate, I will have a good job to support me and if I have a family support my family as well,” he said.
Frazier said the support has made it possible.
“All these good people around me have been such a good influence in my life,” the senior said. “Without them I wouldn’t be here right now. I want to go to school and do well, but I don’t want to be one of those guys who forgets where they came from and lose sight of what was really important…”