OKLAHOMA CITY – A few years ago, T.J. Fredette asked his younger brother a question. "At first, I didn't believe him, of course," said Jimmer Fredette, Brigham Young's star junior guard and T.J.'s younger brother. "I was like, 'What are you talking about?' You know just [like he was] playing another joke on me like he always does."
It was no joke. T.J. simply wanted to know if Jimmer wanted to go play basketball -- inside a prison. Against the inmates.
Jimmer was 18 at the time, living in Glens Falls, N.Y. The next door neighbor knew a guy that ran the recreational programs at a couple of nearby correctional facilities and was setting up some games against the prisoners.
T.J., seven years older than Jimmer, had played a couple of times against the prisoners before Jimmer realized his brother wasn't kidding.
After filling out "a lot of paperwork" – if murdered, please list your next of kin? – Jimmer joined his brother, father, an uncle and some friends and got his first taste of prison ball.
"The first time we went, it's kind of funny," Jimmer Fredette said. "Because to get to the recreational facility, like where the basketball court is, you've got to walk right through 'the yard' and it's where everybody is just chilling there, just hanging out kind of and they're looking at you 'What are you guys doing here?'
"It's kind of intimidating at first, but it's a fun experience and it was something that I enjoyed."
In his first game against the inmates, you could say, pun intended, Fredette took no prisoners.
"The first time I took him there, he scored 40," T.J. told Yahoo Sports. "One of the refs was an inmate. The other was a guard and the prisoners were all circled around the court going crazy. I don't think we ever felt like we were in danger because all the guards had guns, but it was pretty hostile."
Jimmer Fredette said he played five weekends against the inmates at either the Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock, N.Y., or Mount McGregor Prison in Saratoga, N.Y.
"They're decent courts," Fredette said. "They're like big courts for some reason and it was a lot of fun playing in there, you know, made you immensely tough just playing in front of inmates like that and the things they would say to you.
"I don't know if I can repeat all the stuff that they would say. But they were just kind of heckling you and most of the time they didn't like you at first."
It didn't take long for the prisoners to realize how good Fredette was.
"They didn't like you at first, but you would always have a few guys in there that would be rooting for you or betting that [we] would win so they would be cheering real hard," Fredette said. "They bet like cigarettes or things like that."
Those that backed Fredette's team were rewarded with their share of smokes. He won all five games he played.
Those that backed Fredette's team were rewarded with their share of smokes. He won all five games he played.
While Fredette was perfect in prison ball, his BYU Cougars were winless in the NCAA tournament's first-round, a seven-game losing streak that stretched over 17 years.
Until Thursday.
The seventh-seeded Cougars outlasted No. 10 seed Florida 99-92 at the Ford Center. In the NCAA tournament opener, Fredette scored 37 points on a variety of jumpers, left- and right-handed layups, scoop shots and 3-pointers.
Fredette's 37 points tied the school's NCAA tournament single game scoring record, but was still a dozen points off Fredette's career high.
That came at Arizona on Dec. 28, 2009. Fredette lit up the Wildcats for 49 points before leaving the game with three minutes remaining. He hit nine of 13 3-pointers that night.
"He reminds me a lot of [former Georgia Tech guard] Mark Price, who had a long career in the NBA," Arizona coach Sean Miller said after Fredette nearly hung half-a-hundred on the Wildcats. "I'm not an NBA [general] manager, but I would put Fredette against a lot of guards in the country."
This season the 6-foot-2, 21-year old also had a pair of 36-point games against Utah and Colorado State. In last week's Mountain West Conference opener against TCU, he had 45 points - despite missing eight of his 10 3-pointers. He made up for it, by making 23 of 24 free throws in the game.
For the season, he's shooting 89.1 percent from the free throw line. In his last five games, he's made 56 of 60 free throws.
As good as Fredette is shooting the basketball while standing still at the free throw line, he's even more impressive when he's on the move.
"He's so good at creating contact, driving to the hole," BYU junior Jackson Emery said. "He's also great at shooting from 30 feet out and you just don't know how to defend him, really.
"You try to pick your poison. Are you going to make him shoot long or make him drive to the basket? But something that makes Jimmer a really good player is that he also leads the team in assists. Although he's a great scorer, that also helps him find the open guy and it helps create our offense and create a lot of opportunities because teams just can't focus on him, otherwise they're going to have to leave one of us open."
Florida coach Billy Donovan said Fredette has a greater impact on a game than Kentucky freshman John Wall, projected to be this year's No. 1 NBA draft pick. Kansas State coach Frank Martin, whose Wildcats play BYU in Saturday night's second-round contest, compared Fredette to Donovan, when "Billy the Kid" led Providence to the 1987 Final Four.
Fredette describes his game as "old school."
BYU coach Dave Rose said it's difficult for him to describe Fredette's game for someone that hasn't seen him play.
"You need to kind of come and watch it, because he's just got a real feel for how to read defenses," Rose said. "His game is so complete as far as his ability to bounce, shoot, pass, read ball screens, read defenders, but he's got two, three ways that he can shoot a three, which is different than most guys because he can shoot that off the dribble, he can catch and shoot it, he can kind of drive at you and back step and shoot that three, and that's a pretty talented guy just in itself.
"And then he has the ability to get in the lane and get to the basket and finish with his right hand, finish with his left hand, draw contact, get to the free-throw line and score. He's a really, really good offensive scoring guard and I'm glad that he gets the opportunity to continue to play so people can see him. He's fun to watch."
No matter whether it's playing in the NCAA tournament or a prison.
Contact FanHouse senior writer Brett McMurphy at brettmcmurphy@gmail.com.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Greetings! I just want to inform you that there is a period missing after the word, "hostile." It is at the 10th paragraph.
Thank you for the interesting article! It is appreciated.
also these prisons are all smoke free, there are no cigerettes
Good for Jimmer. We played softball with the inmates at the Utah State Prison. I was trying to stretch a hit into a triple, but as I rounded second base, their shortstop close-lined me. I looked up at the umpire, also a prisoner, for help, and he told me "Welocme to the yard boy!" Despite this, we played ball there a few times. We learned to keep our heads on a swivel, and know were the inmates were at all times.