BYU basketball: Jimmer Fredette, Chandler Parsons share mutual admiration in NCAA Tournament

NEW ORLEANS — BYU guard Jimmer Fredette and Florida's Chandler Parsons go way back.

The two seniors meet again Thursday night at the New Orleans Arena when the Cougars and Gators battle for the right to advance to the Elite 8.

While Fredette was the Mountain West Conference's player of the year, Parsons, a 6-foot-9 forward, was the Southeastern Conference's player of the year. They first met while playing AAU basketball.

"He's a good guy. I like Chandler a lot. He's a hard worker," Fredette said. "He is a very talented player, a versatile guy, and he is going to be ready to go. He's a senior, so he knows this is his last chance as well. And he's a very cool kid. He's funny and energetic. He's a good guy."

Parsons feels the same way about Fredette.

"He's a really good kid. I've known him since 15 years old and we played against them in AAU," Parsons said. "He played on Albany City Rocks with Talor Battle and Mark Lyons. This summer he was at LeBron (James) camp with me and Vernon (Macklin). I think he's a really good player. He's tough, he's smart, he's got crazy range on his jump shot, and I just think when you're guarding him you can't let him get a lot of easy baskets, not give him any easy looks and really just try to contain him because he's been doing this all year long basically for the last two years against everybody, so he's a great player and a great scorer, so we've just got to do our best to try to contain him."

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