Mighty Obstacles Nothing New for BYU

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Like clockwork each March, there emerges an unknown team that captures the nation's heart and then rips apart their NCAA tournament brackets.

America, say hello to the BYU Cougars.

They have it all:

The 6-foot-2 gunner with the name -- Jimmer -- and the game he honed playing against prisoners as a teenager.

They have the 6-foot-1 reserve guard, who decided to get a Mohawk with three of his teammates last week and then discovered BYU's NCAA opener is against Florida, the same team he always dreamed about playing for.

And then there's the coach. The coach whose job it was to deliver an NCAA tournament victory for a school without an NCAA victory in 17 years. Deliver an NCAA victory less than a year after being diagnosed with, what he called, a "death sentence." Others know it as pancreatic cancer.

If that wasn't enough the Cougars had to survive watching Florida attempt game-winning, season-ending shots at the end of regulation and the first overtime.

When it finally reached the second overtime, the Cougars knew they couldn't afford to let the game go any longer.



Share "We [were] able to get into the second overtime and we had second life or third life or whatever it was and I just wanted to go out there and try to get it done," Jimmer Fredette said. "Because we couldn't -- I don't know if I could have played another overtime."

Fredette finished with 37 points, on a variety of layups, scoop shots, circus shots and NBA-range 3-pointers. Eight of Fredette's points came in the second overtime as the Cougars eliminated Florida 99-92 in the Ford Center Thursday afternoon.

Seventh-seeded BYU was the higher seed than the No. 10 seed Gators, but BYU has the look and the feel of a team that can pull off more madness this March and, perhaps, become this tournament's Cougarella.

"This team," BYU coach Dave Rose said, "has been through a lot."

Nothing, however, compared to what Rose has gone through.

Last June while on a flight, Rose felt dizzy. He lay across three seats. After landing he was taken immediately to the hospital, where he began vomiting blood.

He had pancreatic cancer, but the cancer had left his pancreas and a tumor formed on his spleen. Doctors removed his spleen, a piece of his pancreas and six lymph nodes.

On July 22, an MRI scan showed Rose's cancer was gone. Because the cancer left his pancreas, he is technically not considered cured, but treatable.

"When I got the good news that I was going to be able to come back and coach, we just kind of rolled from that spot," Rose said. "I'll always be grateful to this group because we've had such a good year and we won a lot of games. That's kind of made it easier for me and my health situation."

Only about five people in a million diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive. After beating those odds, surviving a couple of last-second shots in an NCAA tournament game is a breeze.

Florida's first game-winning shot was from Chandler Parsons. A turnaround jumper from about 10 feet at the end of regulation. "He had a great look," UF's Kenny Boynton said.

But it didn't drop.

Before the game Fredette approached Parsons, who hit a 70-foot prayer to beat N.C. State in the regular season, and made a small request.

"I said 'No game-winning shots tonight,' " Fredette said. "That's what I told him. And he came down to the end where he had a chance and just barely missed it."

"I just barely missed it," Parsons told Fredette and the game went to overtime tied at 75.

In the first overtime, it was Michael Loyd, not Fredette, who rescued the Cougars. Fredette missed his only shot and had a turnover with 26 seconds remaining that gave Florida another game-winning attempt.

Loyd was averaging 4.6 points a game. He scored all six of BYU's points in the first overtime. Although he's from Las Vegas, Loyd said "one of his dreams was to go to Florida."

That dream never panned out, but he was "licking [his] chops" when he saw BYU would open against Florida. Loyd finished with a career-high 26 points.

In the locker room afterward, some of Loyd's teammates joined the media members surrounding the sophomore guard. A few teammates playfully thrust their cell phones in his face while he answered questions. Another teammate used a ham-and-cheese sandwich as an impromptu microphone.

The Cougars laughed. It was fun times.

The most fun time, though, was experienced on the court by Fredette.

Growing up in Glens Falls, N.Y., Fredette honed his game as an 18-year-old playing basketball against prisoners. His brother, T.J., knew a guy, who knew a guy, who ran recreation programs at a couple of prisons in nearby Comstock and Saratoga, N.Y. So Fredette, his brother, father, uncle and some friends would ball against the prisoners one game a weekend.

"We were undefeated in the prison games when I was there," Fredette said. "We were 5-0. It was kind of intimidating with the guards out there with the guns waiting for something to happen."

Fredette said that experience made him realize not to take anything for granted.

"You have to think about cherishing the moments you have," Fredette said. "You see people in there and they can't do anything. That [playing basketball] is the highlight of their lives right now. You're very fortunate, very lucky and you have to make the best of it."

Tied at 86 entering the second overtime against Florida, Fredette and Loyd took over.

Loyd opened the second overtime with a 3-pointer. Fredette then hit two free throws and Loyd added a free throw. Fredette then drained consecutive 3-pointers and Loyd added two more free throws.

In less than four minutes, Fredette and Loyd had combined for 14 points. BYU's lead was 95-86.

Shortly after, BYU had won its school-record 30th game and ended a streak of seven consecutive losses in first-round NCAA tournament games.

The 13th leading scorer in BYU history -- the same kid who was told in high school he was "too slow" and that he "couldn't dribble the ball well enough and play good defense" -- was being interviewed on the court by CBS. BYU fans in the stands screamed "Jimmer, Jimmer."

"When you're young you dream about something like this. I did as a young child."
-- Jimmer Fredette "My dream was to get to the NCAAs, play and win a lot," Fredette said. "That's all I've ever thought of. You can't think you can't do something. So how fun is this journey? To have fun. That's a big thing. When you're young you dream about something like this. I did as a young child. When I saw the kids celebrate after they make the big shots, it gives me chills.

"It's a great feeling. Obviously we haven't won a game since '93 and we were very aware of that and we knew that at some point we were going to win it. And we felt like this could be the year that we did it.

"And, you know, it was our time. We were able to go out and play well and just give it all we had and come out with this win. It feels great."

Before facing Fredette, Florida coach Billy Donovan said Fredette had a greater impact on games more than Kentucky's John Wall or South Carolina's Devan Downey.

"Fredette is one of the best-kept secrets in college basketball," Donovan said.

Kansas State coach Frank Martin, whose Wildcats will play BYU Saturday, compared Fredette to Donovan during his playing days at Providence.

"It was funny because we're in the locker room and someone said to me, [Fredette] reminds me of Billy Donovan when he played at Providence," Martin said. "I said 'that's exactly right.' That's exactly what it reminded me of."

All Donovan did was lead a little-known Providence to the 1987 Final Four. Can Fredette accomplish the same thing? It's not to late to jump aboard the BYU bandwagon. Remember America, you've been warned.

Contact FanHouse senior writer Brett McMurphy at brettmcmurphy@gmail.com