BYU basketball: Focus on Jimmer Fredette hasn't hurt Cougar chemistry

PROVO — The BYU Cougars have been nationally ranked for 19 straight weeks for good reason.

From top to bottom, the Cougars' roster is filled with talent.

"We've got really good basketball players on this team," BYU coach Dave Rose said.

But there's also the great player. The superstar. Everywhere the Cougars have gone this season they've had to deal with the Jimmer Fredette sideshow.

When BYU hits the road, the preseason eight-team All-American senior is clearly the star of the show. In every town, Fredette's the only BYU player that local sportswriters and sportscasters want to write about and talk about. The story of how Fredette was groomed and toughened in basketball skills by his brother, uncle and prison inmates while growing up in Glens Falls, N.Y., has been told so many times that it's become national basketball folklore.

The BYU game against Vermont in Glens Falls in early December was, for all intents and purposes, the Jimmer Fredette Showcase. It was his game, his stage. The rest of the Cougars tagged along simply to enjoy the pageantry. And they witnessed quite a show.

Arguably, Fredette is the biggest marquee name for BYU basketball in the past three decades. To those outside of Provo, he is BYU basketball right now.

Normally, attention like that comes with side effects. Jealousy and individual demands tend to rise to the surface and cause turmoil. You see it all the time. It's a common theme in collegiate athletics.

With this BYU team, however, the constant national attention on its superstar has only been a bond. Every Cougar has cherished and thrived in their role in Fredette's national farewell tour. In fact, this group might have better team chemistry than any team Rose has coached in his six seasons as BYU's head guy.

"It's a little uncomfortable as a coach to have a player who gets that much attention, but I'm really pleased with how our players have handled it," Rose said. "And I think it speaks mostly to Jimmer and Jimmer's personality. He is such a likeable and approachable guy, and his approach to the game is so team-oriented that players understand his No. 1 focus is to help the team win. I also think they really respect his game and know he's a really good player."