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BYU's Jimmer Fredette is greeted by fans as he walks off the court after BYU defeated Gonzaga 89-67 in a Southeast regional third round NCAA tournament college basketball game, Saturday, March 19, 2011, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Jack Dempsey

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BYU's Jimmer Fredette (32) is fouled as he drives between Florida's Will Yeguete (15) and Scottie Wilbekin during the second half of the NCAA Southeast regional college basketball semifinal game Thursday, March 24, 2011, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Patrick Semansky

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BYU's Jimmer Fredette, (32) puts up an off-balance shot against New Mexico during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament, Friday, March 11, 2011, in Las Vegas. Fredette scored 52 points in BYU's 87-76 win.(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Julie Jacobson

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Tim LaComb and Jimmer Fredette arrived in Provo at just about the same time.

LaComb was an assistant coach for Ray Giacolleti at the University of Utah when Fredette’s uncle, who lived in Salt Lake City, brought in some video tape of his nephew.

“We did some work on Jimmer,” LaComb said. “We knew he was a kid from New York who was supposed to be good.”

Giacolleti was fired in the spring of 2008 and LaComb landed as an assistant coach for Dave Rose at BYU. He noticed the Fredette was on the list of incoming freshmen for the Cougars.

What followed was something magical that will likely never be repeated. Fredette will have his jersey retired at halftime of Saturday’s BYU-Colorado men’s basketball game and LaComb will be there, along with dozens of other coaches and players who lived through “Jimmer-Mania.”

“We didn’t start Jimmer his freshman season,” LaComb said. “By the time he was a junior he really had carte blanche but all the guys on the team supported him and got behind him. It wouldn’t have worked if that didn’t happen.”

Fredette actually started the second half of BYU’s final game of the 2008-09 season, the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Texas A&M where he scored 10 points in a 67-62 loss.

Rose declared Fredette his starting point guard the next season, surprising many experts who saw Fredette more as a two guard than a point. But Fredette averaged 16.2 points per game as a sophomore, including a memorable showdown with future NBA first-round pick Jeff Teague at the Marriott Center. Teague scored 30 points in a 94-87 Wake Forest victory, making 12 of 14 from the foul line. But Fredette scored 23 points and dished out nine assists in the game.

As a junior, Fredette averaged 22.1 points per game and led the Cougars to their first NCAA victory in 17 seasons, beating Florida 99-92 in double overtime. Fredette also shocked Arizona at the McHale Center in non-conference play, scoring 49 points in a 99-69 thumping of the Wildcats.

Coming back for his senior season, Fredette led BYU to a 14-1 non-conference schedule. But the national spotlight intensified on Jan. 11 of 2011, when Fredette scored 47 points in a 104-79 victory at Utah. His stunning performance led to sellouts not only in the Marriott Center but pretty much whatever arena the Cougars were playing in on the road as well.

“Wherever we went, people were stalking Jimmer,” LaComb said. “Hotels, practices, fans knew where we were going to be. We had to figure out how to manage his time because everyone wanted him. Jimmer really had the perfect temperament for a superstar because he was not an attention seeker. He really downplayed it with the guys.”

LaComb said the biggest treat of all during that season was when the team played Vermont at the Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York, Jimmer’s home town.

“My wife and I went for a a walk through town the day of the game,” LaComb said. “We came across a bar, with the neon Budweiser and Coors Light signs in the window. On the front of the bar was the biggest BYU flag I’d ever seen. It was pretty awesome.”

LaComb said 90 minutes before the start of the game there wasn’t an empty seat in the arena.

“The place was buzzing,” he said. “It was like a mini Boston Garden. The people there had such an affinity for Jimmer, and you could really feel it. When the announcer called Jimmer’s name for the starting lineup introductions, I had tears streaming down my face.”

Fredette scored 26 points in an 86-58 victory, giving the home town fans exactly what they wanted.

Another unforgettable Fredette moment came in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas. In a win against New Mexico, Fredette scored a school record 52 points that included just one free throw. Fredette was 22 of 37 from the field that night and 7 of 14 from the 3-point line.

As a senior, Fredette led the country with 28.9 points per game and thrilled crowds with his seemingly unlimited range. The magical season came to an end in the NCAA Sweet 16 in New Orleans against Florida. The Cougars were playing without big man Brandon Davies, who had been suspended just before the end of the regular season due to an Honor Code violation. The Gators defensive game plan was to be as physical with Fredette as possible, and after the game he looked like he’d gone through a 12-round boxing match. Fredette didn’t have a great shooting night (11 of 29 from the field, 3 of 15 from 3) but scored 32 points in an 83-74 overtime loss. A month later, he was named the Wooden Award winner as the top college basketball player in the country.

Fredette’s professional career didn’t approach the success of his wonderful college days. He was selected 10th in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and traded to the Sacramento Kings, where he played for four seasons. There were stops in Chicago, New Orleans, New York and Phoenix, then with the Westchester Knicks of the D League, the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association and several teams in the Euro League. Later, Fredette represented the USA with 3×3 basketball, participating in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. In April of 2025, Fredette announced his retirement from basketball.

A few days later, he was announced as the first managing director of the USA Basketball 3×3 Men’s National Team. He also stays busy with his family (wife Whitney and three children) and with a podcast, “From the Logo with Jimmer Fredette.”

On Saturday, BYU fans will get a chance to say thank you as Fredette’s No. 32 jersey is placed in the rafters of the Marriott Center, joining legends Danny Ainge (22), Kresimir Cosic (11), Mel Hutchins (14) and Roland Minson (11).

“Jimmer deserves every bit of recognition,” LaComb said. “Through the years, he’s always stayed connected with us. This was a kid who was a two-star recruit with just a couple of college offers. He had adversity right out of the gate but that’s the beauty of the story. Nobody foresaw what was going to happen. Nobody saw it coming. There has always been so much goodness that Jimmer puts out into the world. He just fills the world with it.”

Scouting Report

Colorado (14-11 overall, 4-8 Big 12) is coming off of a 78-44 beating at the hands of No. 16 Texas Tech.

Buffaloes head coach Tad Boyle didn’t hold back after the loss.

“I’m embarrassed by our performance,” Boyle said is his post-game news conference. “I’m embarrassed for our University. I’m embarrassed for the city of Boulder. I’m embarrassed for the state of Colorado.

“We don’t deserve a charter plane back to Boulder tonight. We got one, we paid for it, but we wasted our money, we wasted our university’s money — and that’s on me.”

Colorado won 10 of 11 games to start the season and began Big 12 play 2-0 with wins against Arizona State and Utah. Seven straight losses followed. The Buffaloes are 2-2 in their past four games, beating TCU and Arizona State with losses to Baylor and Texas Tech.

Freshman guard Isaiah Johnson leads Colorado with 16.1 points per game and junior guard Barrington Hargress — a former teammate of BYU’s Nate Pickens at UC Riverside — averages 14.1 points and 4.4 assists per contest.

The Cougars, meanwhile, ended a four-game losing streak with a 99-94 victory at Baylor on Tuesday.

“It’s an opportunity for us to get home and continue to try to right the ship with some of the things that have gone wrong,” BYU head coach Kevin Young said. “And then, in terms of Jimmer, what an unbelievable honor. Just think about how cool that is to have your jersey retired at your alma mater. We’re extremely happy for him, proud of him, just happy for him and his family, and it’ll be a great day for for BYU.”