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SALT LAKE CITY -- Jimmer Fredette is a big deal in Utah, but every time he makes a basket, those big cheers are echoed in a small town on the East Coast. His hometown of Glens Falls, NY, has a growing number of BYU fans cheering the Cougars on to victory.
Fredette has a jump shot that's unmatched, a cover on Sports Illustrated, and dozens of YouTube tributes that make his name both a noun and a verb.
While Cougar fans in Provo proclaim No. 32 their hero, more than 2,000 miles away, residents in a small town in New York state proudly wave BYU's flag.
"He's awesome! He's our hometown boy," Jimmer fan Leann Dorman told a local news station. "And we were just saying he's a great story."
Glens Falls New York has been "Jimmered." At the Fredette family's favorite pizza parlor, you can order the "Jimmer" special, and every sports bar in town is standing room-only every time Fredette hits the court.
"When his games are on TV, everybody rushes to local establishments; and he clearly should get the award for economic development," one man said.
This is where he first learned to bounce a basketball.
"It's everything to the community," Fredette's high school coach said. "I mean, the excitement, the enthusiasm throughout the town is just unbelievable."
Fredette was a high school basketball star for Glens Falls High School. His high school coach visited him in Provo and told the local news station in New York about Utah Valley's love of Jimmer.
"He's a true rock star out there," the coach said. "People stop their cars, get out, ask for his autograph. We went to a restaurant and people left their seats, came over, wanted to touch him."
With every basket Jimmer makes during the tournament, cheers will be heard from Provo, to New Orleans, to Glens Falls.
"He's great for Glens Falls, and he makes us feel good," Dorman said.
The local newspaper there has proposed they throw Jimmer his very own parade when he returns home.
E-mail: jstagg@ksl.com
