By Lee Strawther
The Sporting Tribune
The John R. Wooden Award will celebrate it’s 50th anniversary this season. Leading up to the award ceremony on April 10, 2026, The Sporting Tribune in partnership with the Wooden Award and the Los Angeles Athletic Club will highlight past winners of the Wooden Award and the Legends of Coaching Award.
Every blue moon a player comes along that will have you believing that every time he takes a shot its going in. “Jimmer” Fredette was one of those players.
James Taft Fredette, nicknamed “Jimmer” by his mother, was born February 25, 1989 in Glens Falls, New York, and was drawn to sports at a very early age. Older brother TJ helped “Jimmer” hone his skills early on as the two regularly played with TJ’s older friends in the family’s backyard. “He was the most determined, competitive four-year-old I had ever seen,” the elder once recalled.
Fredette was ranked among the nation’s top high school shooting guards by ESPN.com and became Glens Falls High School’s all-time leading scorer, ranking 16th on New York’s all-time scoring list with 2,404 points. He was named First-Team All-State by the New York State Sportswriters Association and the Times Union as a junior and senior, and in his senior season he led the then-Indians to a 25–2 record and a Class A State Championship game appearance.
Despite his high school accolades Fredette, in many ways, went unnoticed by many of the nation’s top basketball programs, receiving a modest 12 scholarship offers before choosing to attend his sister’s alma mater, BYU in Provo, Utah.
As a true freshman he played in all 35 games for the Cougars, helping them post a 27–8 record and capture the Mountain West Conference regular season title. He averaged 18.5 minutes per contest, and was the team’s fifth-leading scorer at 7.0 points, while adding 1.7 assists and 1.1 rebounds per game.
Fredette played in all 33 games his sophomore season (2008-09), starting 32 of them, but this time around he was second on the team in scoring (16.2), three-point field goal percentage (.382), three-point makes (52), and free throw percentage (.847), and first in steals (1.5) and assists (4.1). Rightly so, his productivity earned him First-Team All-Mountain West Conference honors.
After a stellar junior year that saw him break the MWC Tournament overall single-game and single game free throw records, Fredette considered forgoing his senior season and entering the NBA Draft. Expected to be picked late in the first round, however, he decided to stay at BYU and play his fourth year.
By the time his final season concluded Fredette had become the top-ranked point guard in the country according to Rivals.com, leading the nation in scoring at 28.9 points per game despite being double-teamed a good deal of the time.
He posted two dozen 30-point, six 40-point, and a career-high 52 point night (senior year) in his four years with the Cougars, and for his overall body of work, Fredette was named the unanimous 2011 National Player of the Year, earning the coveted John R. Wooden Award. He was also took home the Best Male College Athlete ESPY Award that year.
In March 2011 Fredette broke BYU’s career scoring record, previously held by Danny Ainge, in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Championship Tournament. He also set the school’s single-game scoring record with a career-high 52-point performance against New Mexico, whom the Cougars fell to twice during the regular season.
In addition to claiming conference Player of the Year honors he was also among the final ten candidates for the Bob Cousy Award, given to college basketball’s top point guard.
“I loved my time at BYU,” he once said of his four years in Provo. “It was an unbelievable experience with the fans, and the people that I have met, I have lifelong relationships still.”
He was subsequently selected with the 10th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Fredette played for several NBA and NBA Development League teams, as well as internationally. He was the CBA Most Valuable Player in 2017, and was a member of the Greek Basketball League’s championship team in 2020.
Currently Fredette is Managing Director for USA Basketball’s 3×3 National Team. He began competing in 3×3 basketball in 2022 and won two gold medals and one silver in international play. In 2024, Fredette represented Team USA at the 2024 Summer Olympics as a member of the first USA Basketball 3×3 Men’s National Team to compete at the Olympics.
At the end of the day, “Jimmermania” (in its heyday) rivaled that of “Linsanity,” and Fredette will deservedly be remembered for it.
In his own words, “Basketball will come and go, but the person you are will always remain.”