BYU basketball: SDSU student leader offers apology to Fredette

SAN DIEGO — Student leaders and the administration at San Diego State University are taking a hard look at rights of freedom of speech and what is in good taste in the aftermath of criticism over things said and done in mocking BYU when the Cougars played the Aztecs more than a week ago.

One student leader, who works with the student cheer section situated next to the floor and behind the opposing team in the SDSU arena, said if his sign offended BYU star Jimmer Fredette, he apologizes.

"Whatever's best for the university is what we want," said Vincent Silva, a May graduate and mainstay of "The Show" student cheering section. "Brigham Young's a great school. They bring a lot to the Mountain West Conference. At no point do we want to disrespect that.

"With this issue, we've been talking about it for the past week. We do a lot of self-policing. We work very well with the (arena) security. If they see something that might get out of hand, they come to us and we go to the students. You don't want to be 'that guy.' "

Silva, a former Aztecs football manager, admits to being "that guy" responsible for the "Which wife gave you mono?" sign aimed at Fredette, and he acknowledged yesterday that the polygamy implication "was probably close" to the line.

"If I offended him, I apologize," Silva said. "(But) when he came out on the floor, he looked over (at the sign) and laughed at it.

"Jimmer's a great player. If we had a Jimmer, it would be amazing."

Find more information on this subject so to www.signonsandiego.com.