A new addition is coming to the Marriott Center rafters.
Fifteen years after his consensus National Player of the Year campaign, Jimmer Fredette is finally having his No. 32 jersey retired by the BYU men’s basketball program.
BYU will retire Fredette’s jersey during its Feb. 14 game against Colorado.
“Ever since I stepped on campus at BYU, I was welcomed,” Fredette said in a statement. “I felt the love from my coaches, teammates, students and faculty. I wanted to be successful at the university, both on the court and off. I never imagined what was going to come the next four years. It became some of the greatest years of my life, with one of the most magical seasons in BYU history. Being a part of that was an honor.
“Now to be recognized among the all-time greats forever in the rafters is a surreal feeling. I’m so excited to enjoy that moment with all of Cougar Nation, in the building and around the world.”
Fredette will be the fifth men’s player to have his jersey retired by BYU, joining Danny Ainge, Kresimir Cosic, Mel Hutchins and Roland Minson.
Over the course of his four seasons in Provo, Fredette scored 2,599 points, shot 39.4% from 3-point range and was a three-time All-Mountain West First Team selection.
In 2011, the Glens Falls, New York, native became a national sensation by averaging 28.9 points per game and leading the Cougars to a Sweet 16 berth and No. 10 final AP poll ranking.
Fredette left BYU as the program’s all-time scoring leader and still holds the records for most points in a game and season, among numerous others.
He was selected with the 10th pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and was then promptly traded to the Sacramento Kings, where his initial presence boosted the franchise’s merchandise sales by 540%.
Fredette ultimately played parts of six seasons in the NBA — with two and a half coming in Sacramento — and averaged 6.0 points across 241 games for the Kings, Bulls, Pelicans, Knicks and Suns.
He found his greatest professional success overseas, becoming a superstar in the Chinese Basketball Association by averaging 34.2 points per game over four seasons with the Shanghai Sharks and capturing league International MVP honors in 2017.
Fredette also spent time playing professionally in Greece under head coach Rick Pitino.
The twilight of Fredette’s career was spent in the world of FIBA 3x3 basketball, competing in a number of notable tournaments across the world and racking up awards such as USA Basketball’s 3x3 Male Athlete of the Year in 2023.
Fredette led Team USA to appear in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, where he entered the event as the top-ranked 3x3 men’s player in the world. However, he tore two ligaments in his adductor early in the tournament and would not return to the court.
To this day, Fredette remains one of the most popular athletes in the history of BYU as well as one of college basketball’s all-time prolific scorers. He was inducted into the BYU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021.
