NCAA Basketball: 25 most mesmerizing players of all time
. . . Jimmer Fredette. . player. 540
Earlier it was mentioned that Glenn “The Big Dog” Robinson was one of only two players putting up over 1,000 points in a season since 1992-93. Well, the other player was Jimmer Fredette of BYU during the 2010-11 season. That season, the 6’2 guard from Provo was so popular that the entire country was swept up in what has since been deemed “Jimmer Mania.”
The Glen Falls (NY) native decided to attend BYU after setting all the New York state high school scoring records. Prior to 2010-11, Fredette had already put up two of the 40 best scoring seasons in Mountain West Conference history, averaging 15.2 points per game in his first 101 contests.
Despite being considered a good to great college scorer by nearly everyone in the country, not many could have predicted Fredette taking it to a new level during his senior season. He led the Cougars to a 10-0 start, averaging 23.7 points along the way.
After a loss to UCLA on a neutral court, BYU ripped off another 10 in a row. During which, Fredette upped the ante again, averaging north of 30 points per game, shooting an incredible 46.4% from behind the arc, and logging a trio of 40+ point games.
In the final few weeks of the season, BYU defeated everyone on their schedule with the exception of New Mexico, who got the best of the Cougars twice despite Jimmer averaging 32.5 points in those games.
The third time was a charm for him however as the two teams met again in the conference tournament. Fredette drilled 7-14 triples en route to a career-high 52 points leading the Cougars to victory. They made the NCAA tournament as #3 seed and went to the Sweet 16 before falling to the Florida Gators.
Fredette led BYU to as high as #3 in the polls and finished the season at #10. Their #3 seed in the NCAA Tournament was the program’s highest seed since 1980.
While his NBA career never quite panned out, Jimmer Fredette’s 2010-11 season will go down as one of the most memorable seasons of college basketball that some have ever witnessed.