Jimmermania Update

Jimmermania is back in Utah - for now.  Jimmer Fredette's last basketball game in Utah took place way back in March as BYU beat Wyoming at home to clinch the Mountain West Conference regular season championship.  On Wednesday, Jimmer left his BYU teammates in Provo and worked out for the Utah Jazz in Jimmer's last pre-draft workout prior to next week's NBA Draft on June 23.

NBA teams bring in players they are interested in evaluating and potentially drafting in order to put the players through dribbling drills, speed tests, defensive workouts, shooting competitions, and in-person interviews.  The workouts help determine whether the players are worthy of the significant investment that comes with an NBA first-round pick.  In recent weeks, Jimmer also worked out for the Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, Sacramento Kings, and the Phoenix Suns.  Based on his performance at BYU, the NBA Draft Combine, and the various individual team pre-draft workouts, Jimmer has been projected to be drafted as high as #7 to as low as #20, which is quite a large spread especially given Jimmer's prominence in the basketball world within the last year.

Jimmer Fredette was the center of attention on Wednesday as he had an
impressive workout for the Utah Jazz.

So much focus, deliberation and analysis have gone into Jimmer's unknown potential as an NBA player that he even had an entire NBA Draft Preview article in this week's Sports Illustrated issued devoted to "The Jimmer Dilemma".  Come back next week for my evaluation and prediction for how Jimmer will fare in the upcoming Draft, but in the meantime he is making a big-time impression on NBA teams in his pre-draft workouts.  "He's quicker than I thought he was," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said of Jimmer. "His competitive nature, this cat really competes and he hates to lose.  He's a good kid.  He really likes to play and that shows in everything he does on the floor, along with his scoring ability."  Given the media and public reaction to the workout today, if the Jazz use the #3 or the #12 pick on The Jimmer, it will no doubt generate a preseason interest in the Utah Jazz not seen since the glory days of Stockton and Malone.

Jimmermania could take Utah by storm - again...or Sacramento, or Phoenix, or New York.  Stay tuned.