J.J. Frazier makes up for stature with ability to score points in bunches

J.J. Frazier is usually the smallest player on the court.

Yet his size, 5-10 and 155 pounds, has not been a limitation for the scrappy junior out of Glennville. Frazier is coming off a 35-point game against Georgia Tech, in which he dominated offensively. He hit six 3-pointers and made 11 of his 12 free-throw attempts. He had a nifty up-and-under move to finish a drive for a lay-up. Frazier was able to score in just about every possible way in a 75-61 in over the Yellow Jackets.

Frazier has compensated for his lack of size by using what he's good at to his advantage.

"Play with more energy, play with more competitiveness, play with more heart," Frazier said. "I understand my strengths and my weaknesses but once you get the understanding of those things, what you have to do to be a successful player at this height in a major conference, it gets easier as you go on."

When sophomore Yante Maten got to campus a year ago, he admitted his surprise at meeting Frazier for the first time. All the other scholarship players were well over 6-feet, with the other guards in the rotation checking in at 6-3 or taller.

"When I first got here I was like, 'What do you do?'" Maten said. "But it turns out he's a fabulous player, a great teammate and a great friend. He does it all."

Frazier's 35-point outburst isn't even his career high. Last year, Frazier helped lead his team to a 72-66 win over Mississippi State with 37 points, which included sinking seven 3-pointers. He's only the fifth Georgia player to ever score 35 points or more twice in his career -- matching a feat accomplished by Willie Anderson, Jacky Dorsey, Litterial Green and Zippy Morocco.

And to think, Frazier didn't start practicing the 3-point shot until he was a sophomore in high school.

His father, James Frazier, would play him one-on-one quite a bit when growing up. But Frazier's father would never let him shoot the 3. As a middle-schooler, he didn't need to, as Frazier said he'd score 18 or 19 points a game without having to shoot from long range.

Frazier has become a scrappy player to where he's second on the team with 4.8 rebounds per game, aided by 8 against High Point and 10 against Winthrop.

Head coach Mark Fox said he was exceptionally tough on Frazier when he was a freshman two years ago. Fox wanted to toughen Frazier up for the battles he'd endure once he was a part of the regular rotation.

"I just knew, at his size, he had to be one tough little rascal by the time it was his turn to play big minutes," Fox said. "People try to hit him, they try to beat him up and they try to wear him down. He's really the best of the lot to be in great shape and be able to shoot it with great range, to compensate some with his size."

This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 6:41 PM with the headline "J.J. Frazier makes up for stature with ability to score points in bunches ."