Scoring machine Fredette leads BYU

DENVER -- There's no shortage of great basketball players at Syracuse or in the Big East, but there's one big fish that got away, far away -- Brigham Young's Jimmer Fredette, whose 28.5 scoring average leads the nation by a mile. If Jim Boeheim and his fellow Big East coaches could have a recruiting do-over, you better believe they'd give the curly-haired kid from Glens Falls High School a much closer look.

Nowadays, Fredette is getting compliments from the likes of noted basketball fan President Obama ("Unbelievable. Best scorer in the country. Great talent.") and from NBA superstar Kevin Durant, who said in a famous Twitter message earlier this season: "Jimmer Fredette is the greatest scorer in the world."

It's heady stuff, but Fredette said Wednesday, "I wasn't recruited by many Big East schools. I wasn't offered a scholarship by any of them. I looked at Syracuse a little bit, and they looked at me a little bit. But they had Scoop Jardine and Jonny Flynn coming in the same year I was and were pretty much set."

So Fredette, who comes from a Mormon family, took his game to BYU in the Mountain West and started racking up numbers. He caught national attention last year when he scored 37 in an NCAA first-round win over Florida. But this season, he's dominated, capping it with 52 points against New Mexico in the Mountain West Tournament. Tonight he'll lead the Cougars in their NCAA opener against Wofford.

If he once was viewed as limited by a lack of jumping ability and speed, his opponents know better now.

"The thing is I'm deceivingly athletic and deceivingly fast," Fredette said. "You have to be in order to get by guys. You can't be slow. Even if you have great moves, they'll be able to guard you . . . I worked on my skills -- being able to shoot the ball from long distances, handle the ball and get into the lane and try to finish."

The Cougars (30-4) spent much of the season high in the Top 10 but have dropped to No. 10 in the AP poll since 6-9 forward Brandon Davies was suspended for violating BYU's morals code. Having gone 3-2 without Davies, the Cougars have had a chance to adjust, but they are more of a one-man show than ever.

No matter how much defenses focus on Fredette, coach Dave Rose said he has the ability to find open teammates. At the same time, he can't always be stopped while covered because of a creative array of off-balance shots, scoops and ways to put the ball in the basket.

Rose said NBA scouts have taken increasing notice with each passing season. Fredette's older brother, T.J., recently said he'd love to see Jimmer with the Knicks. "I always liked the Knicks growing up because I was pretty close to there, and my brother liked them," Jimmer said. "I liked the teams they had with Allan Houston and Patrick Ewing and those guys. It would be cool to go there."

Most likely, Fredette will be gone well before the Knicks pick. Someone will land a pretty big fish.