Losing a star player late in a promising season is a story Jimmer Fredette knows all too well. Fresh off BYU’s 80-67 victory at No. 6 San Diego State on Feb. 26, 2011, the Cougars (27-2) surged to No. 3 in the AP Top 25. Flying high as the nation’s leading scorer, the last thing Fredette expected was a plot twist that flipped the script.
When word came down that center Brandon Davies was suspended due to an honor code infraction, the Cougars were rerouted off the road to the Final Four and sent down a crooked path full of uncertainty.
“It wasn’t easy at first,” Fredette told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show this week. “That first week was definitely difficult. There is some shock value. That next game we played after Brandon, we got crushed.”
New Mexico rolled into the Marriott Center and stunned the Cougars 82-64.
“It was one of those things where we were trying to figure things out,” Fredette said. “We picked ourselves back up and said, ‘Hey listen, (Brandon) is out. We’ve got to figure this out. We still have goals and aspirations that we know we can reach with this team.”
The clarion call to everyone on the roster was for each player to do more.
Three days later, BYU responded by pounding Wyoming 102-78. As expected, Fredette scored 38 points, but Charles Abouo surprised the Cowboys by adding a career-high 25, including 21 in the second half.
The Cougars opened the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas with a 64-58 victory against TCU. Fredette scored 24 points. Abouo added 14 and Noah Hartsock contributed 10.
BYU avenged its loss to New Mexico the following night with an 87-76 victory. Fredette scored a program-record 52 points, but the Cougars still needed Jackson Emery’s 14 and Kyle Collinsworth’s 11 and nine rebounds to advance past the Lobos.
Kawhi Leonard and No. 7 San Diego State caught BYU out of gas in the title game, but the Cougars rebounded in the NCAA Tournament. Fredette produced the bulk of the points and each night, a different supporting cast member elevated their performance to complement him.
Fredette scored 32 in BYU’s 74-66 first-round victory against Wofford, while Abouo, Hartsock and Logan Mangusson each added 10. During the Cougars’ 89-67 blowout of Gonzaga, Fredette delivered 34, Emery had 16 and Hartsock and Stephen Rogers both scored 10.
The season ended in the Sweet 16 with an 83-74 overtime loss to Florida. Fredette finished with 30 points and Collinsworth, a guard posing as Davies’ replacement, pulled down 15 rebounds.
BYU’s 34-5 record remains the best in program history. It is also remembered as the year that could have been so much more. They didn’t go as far as they hoped, but with Davies out, the Cougars stepped up their efforts and went as far as they could.
Losing Richie Saunders to a season-ending knee injury has the current No. 23 Cougars (19-6, 7-5) at a similar crossroads, but they are not without a blueprint to follow.
“I believe this team has the same capability to do that, but guys are going to have to step up,” Fredette said. “You are going to have to define specific roles for guys and say, ‘When you come in, this is what you do. We need you to shoot the basketball. When you are open, you are not passing up a shot, you are shooting it’ — because that is what Richie did. He gave us that shooting threat, that scoring threat.”
Scoring is only part of what made Saunders so valuable.
“We need someone hustling on that offensive glass, getting us extra possessions, tipped balls. Those are difficult to do but you can control them if you get guys out there that are willing to play hard and have that type of motor — those are things that Richie brought that are gonna be missed,” Fredette said. “AJ (Dybantsa) and Rob (Wright) are the guys who are going to have to lead this squad now. That two-headed monster is going to have to score a lot of points and make plays.”
The first post-Saunders test is Wednesday at No. 4 Arizona (7 p.m. MST, ESPN). The second is Saturday at the Marriott Center against No. 6 Iowa State (8:30 p.m. MST, ESPN). With the NCAA Tournament four weeks away, the Cougars have time to adapt to the new script and keep their story going.
Solace for Saunders
Watching Saunders’ season get cut short triggered memories of the freak leg injury that knocked Fredette out of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“My heart goes out to Richie. To see that happen and go down like that is heart-wrenching. For someone who has dealt with an injury during a really prominent time, it’s not easy,” Fredette said. “I hope that he knows we are thinking of him. We love him and if anybody is going to get back and be a great basketball player again and still reach all the goals he wants to reach, it’s going to be Richie because of his work ethic and determination. I hope he understands that. It’s far from over for him, but it’s a very tough thing to see.”
Banner moment
Back home in Colorado after a whirlwind weekend in Provo where BYU retired Fredette’s No. 32 jersey on Saturday, the 2011 National Player of the Year reflected on the scene that topped them all.
“The best moment was when the jersey was unveiled. That makes it so real, and it was just hanging up there and that thing is never coming down,” Fredette said. “You can picture it. You can envision it, but when it really happens, all of a sudden — it’s just up there and it’s gonna be up there forever. That moment was great when I was just sitting there hugging my kids, watching them, and counting it down. That is something that is going to be engrained into my mind and heart forever. BYU truly went all-out and I absolutely appreciate it.”
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.