During his recent college days at Brigham Young University, the long-range shooting exploits and scoring ability of Jimmer Fredette spawned “Jimmermania,” the term used to describe the guard’s rampant fan support. Fredette is still trying to gain a permanent foothold in the NBA, after playing for Sacramento and Chicago the previous three seasons. The Glens Falls, N.Y., native joined his third team, New Orleans, as a free agent in July. He discussed his background and some of his interests away from basketball recently with Pelicans.com:
Best moments as an athlete: “Getting to the Sweet 16 my senior year at BYU. The team was fun and we hadn’t gotten that far in a long time, so that was very memorable. We actually played our Sweet 16 game in New Orleans.”
How he chose his current uniform number of 32: “When I was younger, I was a little bit bigger of a kid, and the uniform numbers available were higher for the bigger players. So I picked 32 and just kept it ever since. There is no really special significance to 32.”
One thing fans might be surprised to know about him: “I can juggle.”
Favorite thing about New Orleans: “The people have been awesome, very nice people all around. And also the food is amazing. I’m excited to get to experience that.”
Pregame ritual: “I have a routine where I shoot at the same time and do the same drills and warmups, but nothing too unusual.”
First job: “I worked at a pizza shop. My brother’s best friend owned it. I did a little bit of everything there, whatever they needed.”
Favorite athletes as a kid: “John Stockton in basketball, Andre Agassi in tennis.”
What he’d be doing if he weren’t an NBA player: “I’d probably be a high school teacher and high school coach.”
Closest friends currently playing on other NBA teams: “My best friend in the pros is Brandon Davies, who I played with at BYU. He plays for the Philadelphia 76ers now.”
Favorite type of music: “I like a bunch of different stuff that my wife has gotten me into. I like Maroon 5 and Andy Grammer, but I also like hip-hop a lot. I listen to country now too, so I’m all over the place.”
Favorite TV show: “Modern Family.”
Favorite movies of all time: “Shawshank Redemption, and Dumb & Dumber is my favorite funny movie.”
Favorite websites: “My wife’s blog, whitneyjean.net. Also Twitter and Facebook.”