phew.... I think this was closer than people realize

http://www.sportingnews.com/college-basketball/article/2010-05-08/battle-fredette-among-several-underclassmen-withdrawing-from-n

FoxSports.com's Jeff Goodman reports Penn State guard Talor Battle, Virginia Tech guard Malcolm Delaney, BYU guard Jimmer Fredette, Morehead State forward Kenneth Faried and Nicholls State guard Anatoly Bose are taking their names out of the NBA draft and returning to school.



In Fredette's case, Goodman reports, an injury may be influencing the decision. Goodman says Fredette injured a quad Friday during a workout with the Knicks.



The players have until 5 p.m. ET Saturday to officially declare themselves in or out of the draft.

There were some GMs that felt that Fredette was the 2nd best point guard prospect in this draft... that alone might have swayed him, even without a 1st rd guarantee. (truthfully, it's more an issue of it being a weak guard draft without any prototypical points)... now if he can get and stay healthy for his senior year....

The Lord moves in mysterious ways. :whistle: :whistle:

i really hope thats true and he is coming back.

Looks like a noon press conference.

kitic77 wrote:
Looks like a noon press conference.

Noon....in New York? Or Spain?



still no news! How dare he not decide according to my schedule!

CougarClaw wrote:

Looks like a noon press conference.

Noon....in New York? Or Spain?



still no news! How dare he not decide according to my schedule!

In 15 minutes it will be official no matter what he does... deadline to withdraw...

http://blogs.sltrib.com/byu/index.php

Jay Drew...

Jimmer Fredette was a lot closer to entering the NBA Draft than a lot of people think.

That’s the impression the BYU guard left with reporters after meeting with the media on Monday to discuss the decision he made Saturday to return to BYU for his senior season.

“I was close either way,” Fredette said. “....It would have been a win-win situation either way.”

Fredette said several NBA general managers and coaches told him he was ready to play in the NBA right now, and that he would probably be drafted anywhere from 20th to 40th if he stayed in the draft. But there were not guarantees, he acknowledged.

He said it was cool to hear several NBA bigwigs say, “You will be an NBA player” at some point in time.

“I thought about it a lot, and I was pretty close to staying in [the draft],” he said. “But I felt like it was the best decision to say [in school].”

Fredette said NBA teams were generally surprised by his better-than-expected athleticism and defensive ability.................................

The primary thing that most said he needed to work on, surprisingly, was conditioning, and being able to go hard on every play, every possession.

Regarding the news that his backup at point guard, Michael Loyd Jr., was leaving the program, Fredette called the departure “unfortunate” but said he is confident other players can step up and fill the void.

craigoscarson wrote:
http://blogs.sltrib.com/byu/index.php

Jay Drew...



Fredette said NBA teams were generally surprised by his better-than-expected athleticism and defensive ability.................................

quote]

I thought this was the most important thing said. Seeing as everyone here was ragging on Fredette this year saying he was too slow to be able to play defense in the NBA, except me, I was saying speed isn't the only thing you need to be a good defensive player and obviously the pro's agree. Way to go Jimmer!!

blue42 wrote:

http://blogs.sltrib.com/byu/index.php

Jay Drew...



Fredette said NBA teams were generally surprised by his better-than-expected athleticism and defensive ability.................................

quote]

I thought this was the most important thing said. Seeing as everyone here was ragging on Fredette this year saying he was too slow to be able to play defense in the NBA, except me, I was saying speed isn't the only thing you need to be a good defensive player and obviously the pro's agree. Way to go Jimmer!!

the NBA execs obviously didn't watch the Kstate game :p



I hope a healthy and motivated Jimmer plays defense like he's capable; there's no excuse now (right? I mean the NBA told him he could)

craigoscarson wrote:

craigoscarson wrote:
http://blogs.sltrib.com/byu/index.php

Jay Drew...



Fredette said NBA teams were generally surprised by his better-than-expected athleticism and defensive ability.................................

quote]

I thought this was the most important thing said. Seeing as everyone here was ragging on Fredette this year saying he was too slow to be able to play defense in the NBA, except me, I was saying speed isn't the only thing you need to be a good defensive player and obviously the pro's agree. Way to go Jimmer!!

the NBA execs obviously didn't watch the Kstate game :p



I hope a healthy and motivated Jimmer plays defense like he's capable; there's no excuse now (right? I mean the NBA told him he could)

Did you all hear a big Homer Simpson DOH out of Jimmer when the NBA told him he could play defense? :whistle: But what do the "experts" know, they are the same ones who said Adam Morrison would be a good NBA player, and we know how that turned out!! :bug:

blue42 wrote:
Did you all hear a big Homer Simpson DOH out of Jimmer when the NBA told him he could play defense? :whistle: But what do the "experts" know, they are the same ones who said Adam Morrison would be a good NBA player, and we know how that turned out!! :bug:

I bet if you looked at all the quotes about Adam Morrison every knew he would question marks about lateral mobility. Jimmer is very strong and agile. He probably can learn to stay in front of quick guards. He lacks the ability to put pressure on them however.