Jimmer Fredette is a fuckin' problem. He's the best player in the Mountain West Conference and—maybe—the entire country. He can shoot the lights out. And, if he keeps up his current pace (40 points or more in three outta his last four games, son!), he's gonna earn himself a pretty high slot in the 2011 NBA Draft. You already knew all of that, though. Here are five things you didn't know about BYU's new savior.
1) HE'S GOT A NAME—AND A GAME—THAT WOULD HAVE MADE HIM A SHOE-IN FOR A ROLE IN HOOSIERS. No shots, but we wouldn't exactly be shaking in our Air Jordans if we saw a kid named Jimmer come out onto the court to play against us. Just like we wouldn't be shook to D up (pause) a kid named Jimmy Chitwood. Until, of course, they started to take turns torching us from 3. And then we'd be all "Seriously: Someone get a fuckin' hand up!" Yeah, so he's basically a character straight outta Hoosiers—except this ain't Hollywood, folks.
2) HIS BROTHER MADE HIM SIGN A CONTRACT WHEN HE WAS 13 PROMISING HE WOULD DO EVERYTHING HE NEEDED TO DO TO MAKE IT TO THE NBA. At 13, we were....well, we're pretty sure we're protected by a statute of limitations but let's just say that we'd rather not discuss it. At 13, Jimmer signed his name on the dotted line and promised his older brother T.J. that he'd make all the necessary sacrifices he'd need to make in order to fulfill his dream of becoming an NBA player. And then he did one better: He actually followed through on it!
3) HE'S—SURPRISE, SURPRISE!—A MORMON. In case you couldn't tell by the BYU affiliation. But he actually hails from a place far, faaaaar from the BYU campus in Provo, Utah. He grew up in a small town called Glens Falls, N.Y. (Population: 14,354) and ranks sixth all-time on New York's high school scoring list. And we don't really need to remind you how many hardwood heroes hail from the Empire State, do we?
4) HE OWES ALL HIS SUCCESS TO GOD. No, really. Jimmer's older brother used to routinely make him run a drill called "The Gauntlet" where he'd turn off all the lights inside a long church hallway and make Jimmer dribble up and down the hallway in complete darkness while he threw 'bows at him to make him stronger with the ball.
5) HIS OLDER SISTER LINDSAY WAS MISS NEW YORK TEEN IN 1998. And we fully expect this little tidbit to end up on at least one derogatory sign at an away game before the season is over. (Pic here.) Hey, opposing fans are gonna have to start doing something to help their team stop him, right? So, who's gonna take the lead on this one?
