Isaiah Thomas, the Sacramento Kings' second round pick, the 60th overall in Thursday's NBA draft, responds to a question as Tyler Honeycutt, the Sacramento Kings second round pick, 35th overall, center and Jimmer Fredette, the Kings first round pick, 10th, overall look on during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Saturday, June 25, 2011. Thomas is a 5-9 guard from Washington. Honeycutt is a 6-8 forward from UCLA and Fredette is a 6-2 guard from BYU.
Associated Press
Jimmer Fredette is not only college basketball's reigning national player of the year and first-round pick of the NBA's Sacramento Kings, he's also a champion for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Fredette, the former BYU star, has taken time to speak to members of the LDS Church, according to an article in the Sacramento Bee, titled, "Mormons have faith in Kings draft pick Jimmer Fredette."
Explaining that his faith is a big part of his life, Fredette said he plans to be part of his new LDS ward in Sacramento and make himself available to speak to Mormon youth groups.
Members of the church in the area are thrilled.
"A lot of people who may have gone to a game or two are now buying season tickets," local businessman and active church member John Stone told the Sacramento Bee. "You can't underestimate how popular he is in the church."
The article compares Fredette's impact to other Mormons making national headlines, including presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman Jr.
DeseretNews.com encourages a civil dialogue among its readers. We welcome your thoughtful comments.
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Jeff Call has been a sportswriter for the Deseret News since 1997. He is the BYU beat writer and has been covering Cougar sports since 1993, when he served as sports editor at the Daily Universe. Call has written several more ..
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IJ really??? Since the church owns Deseret News and this was from a previous article, "The legend of Jimmer seems to be pretty widespread at this point including all the bits about his family and growing up and his religion.
But, the More..
I definitely 100 percent support young men preparing for and going on a mission. That was definitely the greatest blessing for me to that point in my life was to serve a mission. I full heartedly believe that the mission opportunity gives a 19 More..
crowntown1 | 6:07 p.m. July 6, 2011
Corona, CA
"I don't understand the LDS faith how it's okay sometimes and not others."
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Ummmm, crowntown1, it's called free will, self governance, or what ever you want to More..