Charlotte Hornets Rookie Wyatt Fricks On Summer League, Confidence in His Game, and More

Wyatt Fricks’ journey to the NBA was a bit unconventional compared to the majority of his peers.

The 23-year-old rookie who signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Charlotte Hornets this summer spent all four years of his college career at Marshall University, resisting the urge to transfer away in search of greener pastures.

“There was going to be a time that eventually my opportunity would come. And honestly that came with my last year…I wasn’t the most productive guy my first couple of years, I averaged five, six points a game, just wasn’t getting super high minutes. But like I said, I saw other guys stick it out for their entire time and saw the success that they got from it...I felt like it was the right thing to do for myself.”

Fricks’ loyalty to his college program is admirable, and a trait that screams ‘Hornets DNA.’

On the court, Fricks boasts an intriguing blend of skills that checks the boxes of Charles Lee’s preferred ‘connector’ archetype.

In his senior season at Marshall, Fricks played career-highs in games (32) and minutes (29.2 per contest) while leading the team in scoring. His analytical profile stands out, painting Wyatt as an efficient scorer (62.7 effective field goal percentage) who blocks shots, limits turnovers, and effectively spaces the floor. Notably, Fricks was the only player in the NCAA with 50+ dunks and 50+ made threes last season.

As a player looking to secure his future in professional basketball this summer, Fricks knows that those traits are the ones he needs to lean on to impact games at this level.

“I’m a big off-ball guy mainly. But I’m very versatile in the sense that I can play really any front court position, I can guard almost every position, with the ability to space the floor on the offensive end. I can be involved in the pick-and-roll situations, be a lob threat, and use my athleticism in those cases, and then just not letting the ball stick.”

“I feel like I’m really good at being able to get the ball, react, and then make a decision whether that’s swinging it, going and setting a pick-and-roll, setting a ghost screen, something to get the ball moving and get other people involved.”

Fricks’ willingness to do the dirty work should keep him employed for a long time because it's what got him recognized as a draft prospect in the first place. He burst onto the NBA radar with an impressive performance at the Portsmouth Invitation, blocking 10 shots in three games to lead the event.

He’s far from a finished product, though, and Fricks dove into some of the ways that Blaine Mueller and the Hornets have tried to maximize his skill set this summer.

“The biggest thing is just moving, not staying stagnant, spreading the floor, just playing the principles. Doing the small things that matter. The blocks down the defensive end, crashing the glass offensively, moving the ball, then obviously, again, spreading the floor.”

Like his Summer League teammate Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Fricks was quick to praise Sion James for his leadership skills and how they’ve eased his transition to the pros.

“I think while being here Sion James has been a big, big help. Being a player coach for me and letting me know how things go, what to do, where to be, all those sorts of things.”

There’s a long way to go before Fricks’ basketball future is secured, but his mindset of ‘keeping the main thing the main thing’ will go a long way in locking down a contract somewhere. The success of his former Marshall teammate Taevion Kinsey has given him a blueprint to follow, but Fricks isn’t looking too far ahead quite yet. He’s fully committed to the group of players he’s hooping with in Vegas and is cool with letting the chips fall from there.

“I’m here with the team and I want to do what I can to help this team succeed. I want to do what I can to contribute to success whether that’s just being a good teammate when I’m not in the game, or doing the things I need to when I’m on the floor to help the team succeed.”

He’ll have the chance to do that for the last time this summer on Friday night when the Hornets close out their time in Vegas with a consolation bracket contest against the Sacramento Kings.

From there, the work won’t stop. Fricks’ Exhibit 10 contract will afford him the opportunity to join the Hornets for training camp and continue his fight to earn a spot in Greensboro with the Swarm. Don’t expect him to be someone he’s not, though, because Fricks learned from Taevion Kinsey that it won’t get him anywhere.

Confidence is the fuel that will propel Fricks’ journey forward.

“Just be yourself,” said Fricks when asked about some advice that his former teammate gave him. “Just be the person that got me to this point. Don’t try to switch up and be someone else and do too much. I got to this point in my career by doing the little things and trying to be a consistent player. So just continue to be that, and try to stay confident. That’s the biggest part.”

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