A list of 10 things you might not know about BYU basketball
Thursday, March 24, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Women's Golf, Scott Carter
If you're a Florida basketball fan, by now you probably know a lot about the Gators.
You know Alex Tyus cut off his dreadlocks and lost a couple of pounds immediately. You know Chandler Parsons became the first player in school history to win SEC Player of the Year and that, yes – his hair also gets a lot of attention.
You know that head coach Billy Donovan finally was named SEC Coach of the Year in his 15th season in Gainesville. No one really knows why it took so long.
You know freshman Patric Young has muscles he probably doesn't even know about, and that freshman Scottie Wilbekin is only 17 but doesn't play like it. You know Kenny Boynton sprained his ankle on Saturday but is ready to play tonight. You know Erving Walker isn't afraid to shoot from anywhere on the court and likes the nickname “Big Shot Erv'' that Boynton coined.
You know that Vernon Macklin is a different person and player today than when he transferred from Georgetown and that Erik Murphy, Will Yeguete and Casey Prather have chipped in here and there with a big shot or big rebound.
As for the Gators' opponent tonight – BYU – by now you've surely heard of Jimmer Fredette – if not from his exploits this season, then maybe for his 37-point performance against the Gators in last year's NCAA Tournament.
But what else do you know about the Cougars? If not a lot, hopefully this list will help.
Here are 10 things you might not know about BYU basketball:
--Cougars head coach Dave Rose has been to a Final Four. Not as a coach, but as a player. Rose was a shooting guard and co-captain on the famous “Phi Slamma Jamma” team featuring future NBA stars Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler in 1983. Houston was ranked No. 1 for most of the season before suffering a stunning loss to North Carolina State in the 1983 national title game.
--BYU's 32 wins are a school record, surpassing the 30-win season of 2010. BYU's four losses this season: UCLA, New Mexico (twice) and San Diego State.
--Boston Celtics GM Danny Ainge was the most famous BYU basketball player before Fredette came along. Ainge's length-of-the-court dash and basket in 1981 to defeat UCLA at the buzzer propelled him into a national figure.
--This is BYU's 26th NCAA Tournament appearance; Cougars are 14-28 all-time. The deepest they have ever gotten in the tournament is the Elite Eight, losing to Ralph Sampson-led Virginia in 1981.
--Former BYU center Greg Kite was the Orlando Magic's starting center in their inaugural season in 1989. Prior to that, he was a teammate of Ainge's with the Celtics.
--Fredette scored a school-record 52 points in BYU's 87-76 win over New Mexico on March 11 in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, scoring 33 points in the first half. It marked the third time in his career Fredette has scored 30 points or more in a half.
--The Cougars have been ranked in the Top 10 for a school-record nine consecutive weeks. Prior to that, the most consecutive Top-10 rankings for BYU were a pair of four-week stretches – in the 1987-88 and 1971-72 seasons.
--The late Kresimir Cosic, appointed deputy ambassador for Croatia to the United States in September 1992, starred at BYU from 1970-73. A 6-foot-11 center, Cosic averaged 23.3 points and 13 rebounds a game as a junior. He finished his career with a school-record 47 double-doubles.
--BYU has never won an NCAA title, but the Cougars won the NIT championship in 1951 and 1966.
--Before he was simply known as The Jimmer, Fredette drew plenty of interest from Division I programs coming out of Glen Falls, N.Y. He was also recruited by Utah, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Seton Hall, Marshall, Fordham, Virginia Tech, Penn State, West Virginia, N.C. State, Siena and George Mason.
