Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Jimmer returns to BYU to host exhibitions

Jimmer Fredette hasn't played his final game at BYU after all, and when he returns, he's bringing his friends from the NBA.

Fredette this morning announced this morning he'll be hosting rookie exhibitions in Utah -- Sept. 21 at the Maverik Center in Salt Lake City and Sept. 22 at the Marriott Center on the BYU campus -- that will serve as his professional debut, but really be more like a rock concert.

He told KSL that many top draft picks are expected to play, including fellow national player of the year finalist Kemba Walker and fellow Sacramento Kings rookies Tyler Honeycutt and Isaiah Thomas. Coaching the teams will be BYU's Dave Rose and San Diego State's Steve Fisher.

"We knew that it would be something that would be fun for everybody here in Utah to be able to come and watch us play for two more times," Fredette said. Since there was an NBA lockout, we knew that we weren't going to be able to play much organized basketball, so it might be a good thing to get a couple games in in front of fans especially."

Fredette told KSL that proceeds from the game would go to a charity that raised awareness for the vestibular system brain injury that his older brother, T.J., still suffers the effects from today.

The fans are certain to pack both arenas. Consider that when Fredette traveled with BYU last season back to his hometown of Glens Falls, N.Y., people camped out for tickets and showed that Jimmermania was alive and well thousands of miles from Provo.

Most of Fredette's fans could only watch on television as Fredette played his final college game in New Orleans during a loss to Florida in the Sweet 16. A return to BYU for one more homecoming game would give them a chance to applaud the All-American once again.

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/34385/jimmer-returns-to-byu-to-host-exhibitions

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