The Jimmer Fredette Bandwagon Is Picking Up Speed

BYU Basketball is poised to receive the most national attention it has garnered since Danny Ainge made his mad dash between all five Notre Dame defenders to knock off the Irish in the NCAA Tournament nearly 30 years ago.

During the upcoming 2010-11 season, the Cougars are likely to be on ESPN SportsCenter on regular basis. The reason? People just can’t seem to get enough of Jimmer Fredette.

Fredette is currently in Las Vegas working out with many of the top college players as a member of the USA Select team, which scrimmages against the USA National team made up of NBA players who are preparing for the FIBA World Championships.

Earlier this week, Jimmer’s national bandwagon received a big boost by his being named a first team All-American by none other than ESPN analyst Dick Vitale. Who knew Dicky V. even knew we played basketball here in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains?

Rivals.com has also contributed to the buzz for Fredette, naming him to their All-Senior team and recognizing him at the top of their list of  the “most explosive players in the country.”

Many other preseason accolades are sure to come his way as the basketball season draws closer. In fact, his name is already being bantered about in many circles as a preseason player of the year candidate.

Jimmer’s eight 30-plus point outings last year, including a record 49 points at Arizona and 37 verses Florida in the NCAA Tournament, were the launching pad for this year’s preseason hype for the senior from upstate New York.

Fredette’s decision this summer to opt out of this year’s NBA draft means that the national spotlight will now shine brightly on the entire BYU program. Assuming that the Cougars perform as expected, this season may represent the most national attention BYU hoops has ever received from start to finish.

The Cougars do lose Tyler Haws, Jonathan Tavernari, Micheal Lloyd Jr., and Chris Miles from last year's team that set a school record with 30 wins. However, under head coach Dave Rose, BYU has been able to reload each year, and this year should be no different.

The Cougars could be even better this year as they welcome Chris Collinsworth from a mission, his highly recruited brother Kyle from Provo High School, Las Vegas freshman standout Anson Winder, and sharp-shooting junior college transfer Stephen Rodgers to the mix.

Those four talents will join veterans Brandon Davies, Jackson Emery, Charles Abouo, Noah Hartsock, James Anderson, and Fredette to form the core of a talented and deep BYU team.

Among their non-conference games this coming season, the Cougars have a chance to get noticed as they face UCLA in the 17th annual John Wooden Classic, welcome Arizona at Energy Solutions Arena, travel to Jimmer’s hometown of Glens Falls, NY to battle Vermont, and participate with Texas Tech, St. Mary’s, and South Florida in the South Padre Island Invitational.

BYU will also once again be one of the favorites to win the Mountain West Conference. The Cougars will be gunning for their fourth conference title in the past five years. And you can bet that Fredette and company believe they have unfinished business after failing to win either the regular season or conference tournament titles last year.

All of this adds up to one of the most anticipated and hyped basketball seasons in a long time. Let the bandwagon, and the good times, roll. It should be fun to watch.