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Jimmer Fredette says he "was close either way," when it came to deciding whether to stay in the NBA Draft or withdraw and return for his senior season at BYU.
In a noon-hour media gathering at the Marriott Center, the Glens Falls, New York native said he got a "lot of good feedback" after working out in front of General Managers for four NBA teams last week, and that "the coolest thing to hear was that 'you're going to be an NBA player...you're NBA-ready right now.'"
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You can hear all of Fredette's remarks by clicking his audio link in the "Cougar Cuts" box to the right.
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Fredette says GMs for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets and New York Knicks all saw him in person, and that every team's head coach except for the Celtics' Doc Rivers watched his workout. Fredette says former Cougar and current D-League head coach Austin Ainge conducted the workout for the Celtics and Ainge's father, Danny. The Portland Trail Blazers also requested a workout, but it conflicted with the Knicks' scheduled workout session in New York.
Highlights from Fredette's interview session:
Fredette said he experienced the NBA lifestyle, from being flown from city to city, to being picked up at the airport, to enjoying room service in the team hotels, and that "was basically how it went every single day...for four or five days in a row."
Fredette, on whether to stay in the draft: "I thought about it a lot, and I was pretty close to (staying) in, but I felt like it was the best decision to stay (at BYU)."
Fredette said that among others, he worked out with Xavier's Jordan Crawford at both the Celtics and Nets workouts.
Fredette said the GMs "were pretty surprised" with his athletic ability, noting that he tested well in the teams' agility and speed drills.
He said the feedback he was getting was that he could go "anywhere from 20th to 40th" in the upcoming NBA Draft, but "there were no guarantees out there," with GMs saying "it was too early in the process."
On the feedback: "(The GMs) all said they really, really like me," and "'it would be great if you stayed in the draft,' but it was just a little too uncertain... I felt if I was going to be a second round pick and having to fight for a spot on the team, it would be better for me to come back and have a great senior year... and hopefully improve my stock and then next year try to be in that first round category."
Asked about 2010 perhaps being a better year to go pro in light of it being considered a soft draft for point guards: "Some people had me rated as the second-best point guard in the draft, behind (Kentucky's) John Wall... but that's not a real big deal to me... scouts know who I am... I'm excited to come back and work as hard as I can and hopefully have a great year... and be able to beat out all the rest of (the 2011) point guards out there."
On weighing his options: "I was close either way; I felt like it was a win-win situation... I thought I probably would get drafted somewhere."
On hearing GMs tell him was was an 'NBA player': "To hear that, for the things I've actually worked for... to hear someone say you are in that position right now is a cool thing to hear...but I'll continue to get better and work hard so that they say even better things about me going into the draft next year."
On returning to BYU: "I'm excited to get the season started. I think we have a chance to have an extremely good year again...I love my teammates, love the coaching staff, love the area here... hopefully we get farther in the NCAA Tournament and win a conference title again."
On his career path to this point: "It's exactly the way I pictured it. It was fortunate...to have a school like BYU come in and recruit me and that I was able to come in and make an impact and that's kind of exactly how I thought it would go in my head."
On Mike Loyd's departure: "Mike's a great kid and a very good basketball player. It's unfortunate it had to happen...(the coaches and Loyd) felt like it was the best thing for him to move on with his life and his basketball career. I know he's going to be successful wherever hge ends up."
On the scheduled December 8th game versus Vermont in Fredette's home town: "I can't wait to get back home and play in front of my home fans again; it's amazing we were able to get a game in the Glens Falls Civic Center, where I grew up playing and watching state championship games all the time... I know that place like the back of my hand. It's a great place, hopefully we'll have a great game there, I know we're going to get great support; it's going to be a lot of fun, I'm excited to do it."
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