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BYU legend Jimmer Fredette announces retirement from basketball

by:Alex Byington•about 12 hours•

_AlexByington

Jimmer Fredette
Photo by Yukihito Taguchi / USA TODAY Sports

BYU and NCAA Tournament legend Jimmer Fredette formally announced his retirement from the sport of basketball in a social media post Wednesday afternoon. Fredette, a 2011 NBA lottery pick who played his first three seasons with the Sacramento Kings, steps away after more than a dozen years of professional basketball, including the last several playing internationally.

“It’s time to say goodbye to basketball,” Fredette wrote in Wednesday afternoon post to X/Twitter. “I have loved every second of my career through the good and the bad! Thank you all for the support throughout the years. Basketball has made me who I am today. Excited for what is next in my life with my family!”

Fredette most recently appeared at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris as a member of Team USA’s 3×3 Olympic basketball team that was eliminated in pool play. Fredette previously won gold and silver medals for Team USA at the 2023 and 2022 FIBA 3×3 World Cups, respectively.

“Ever since I was young, I was obsessed with basketball. Seeing the basketball go in was magical,” Fredette added in an attached statement. “I wanted to play it everyday. The game has taught me hard work, determination, and grit. Basketball has taken me all around the world; from Glens Falls, NY, to BYU, the NBA, China, Greece, and even Team USA at the Olympics!

“This game and my love for it has shaped me into the person I am today and for that I am forever grateful. So many memories and amazing moments. It wasn’t always easy, but it was always worth it! The next journey starts now. Sign off.”

Amid his six-year NBA career between 2011-19, Fredette also played five seasons overseas, four with the Shanghai Sharks, where he was a three-time Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) All-Star and 2017 International MVP whille averaging more than 34 points per game for the Sharks.

Of course, Fredette’s fame was never higher than during his four seasons (2007-11) at BYU, where he rewrote the record books in Provo, capping his collegiate career as the NCAA’s 2011 scoring champion, 2011 national player of the year and a consensus first-team All-American that season.

As a junior, Fredette’s 37 points and two 3-pointers in double-overtime sent the Cougars to a 99-92 win over 10th-seeded Florida in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament for BYU’s first-ever Round of 32 appearance. The following season, Fredette broke BYU’s career scoring record, previously held by Boston Celtics legend Danny Ainge, en route to securing the program’s first Sweet Sixteen appearance before falling to Florida, 83-74, in overtime.