, the All-American scoring guard for BYU who admits he's not much of a golfer, will join the celebrity-studded field at the American Century Championship on July 12-17 at Edgewood Tahoe, in what is becoming one of the strongest line-ups in the tournament's 22-year history.
Fredette led the nation in scoring during the 2011 NCAA basketball season and was the recipient of the Oscar Robertson Trophy from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association as National Player of the Year. He set a school record for season points in 2011 with 1,068. Fredette was also named to the Associated Press All-America first team, BYU's first player to receive such honors since Danny Ainge in 1981. There will undoubtedly be a buzz in the air about Fredette's blossoming professional basketball career at this year's tournament on the heels of the NBA Draft on June 23.
The made-for-TV event is owned and broadcast by NBC Sports, features a purse of $600,000 ($125,000 to the winner). It is a 54-hole event with scoring is based on a modified Stableford format with 10 points for a double eagle, 8 for a hole-in-one, 6 for eagle, 3 for birdie, 1 for par, 0 for bogey, and minus 2 for double-bogey or higher. Billy Joe Tolliver is the defending champion.
Fredette is among 13 tournament "rookies" -- those who are playing in the tournament for the first time -- who include Deron Williams , Tim Tebow , Andy Pettitte , Rex Ryan , Tom Glavine , Tim Matheson , Rob Morrow and Goose Gossage .
Among the more than 80 returnees on the list are Marcus Allen, Ray Allen, Charles Barkley, Joe Carter, Stephen Curry, Oscar de la Hoya, Jack Del Rio, John Elway, Mike Eruzione, Jim Harbaugh, Lou Holtz, Dan Jansen, Dale Jarrett, Michael Jordan, Jason Kidd, Greg Maddux, Bode Milller, Dan Patrick, Digger Pehlps, Jerry Rice, Aaon Rodgers, Ray Romano, Tony Romo, Bret Saberhagen, Joe Sakic, Emmitt Smith and Steve Spurrier , along with former BYU quarterback Jim McMahon and ex-SDSU running back Marshall Faulk .
The tournament will be broadcast on Versus (July 15) and NBC (July 17-18). Ticket information and lodging packages are available atwww.TahoeSouth.com.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah men's basketball has hired Norm Parrish as its new Director of Basketball Operations, head coach Larry Krystkowiak announced Wednesday. Parrish joins the Runnin' Utes after 20 years as the head coach at Salt Lake Community College.
"Norm is a tremendous basketball coach and a great person," Krystkowiak said. "He is going to be involved in several key areas of our program. He had tremendous success at the junior college level, winning a national championship in 2009 after reaching the finals the year before. He is very well-respected in basketball circles and will be a great representative of the University of Utah. We are very excited that he wanted to join us and help us move forward."
This will be Parrish's second stint with Utah basketball, after serving one year as a graduate assistant under the late Lynn Archibald in 1988-89.
"As a Utah native I am very excited to become part of this staff. It's an honor to get back to the great tradition of Utah basketball," said Parrish. "I have known everyone on this staff for a number of years and I am very confident in them."
• Williams reveals truth about pinky :Arizona forward Derrick Williams played the final two months of his sophomore season with his right pinky in a cast-like wrap with what the team said was a sprain.
Turns out, Williams' littlest digit was broken and he, and the team, didn't want anyone to know.
"I think that if you tell people that you're injured, then people on the other team go after your injuries more, like intentionally slapping my hand when I'd go up for a shot, or something like that," Williams said Wednesday. "I was just trying to keep it under wraps, trying to keep as much padding on it as possible. Playing with three fingers, obviously there was something wrong."
Williams broke his finger on Jan. 27, when it got bent backward during a game against UCLA. He didn't miss a game, opting to play with his pinky sealed in a large wrap of gauze and bandages that made his hand look like a toy gun.
Williams didn't seem to be bothered by the wrap, playing some of his best games down the stretch while shooting left handed and with essentially three fingers on his right. He averaged 19.5 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting 59 percent to lead the Wildcats to the West Regional final in the NCAA tournament after they missed the bracket the season before.
The multitalented 6-foot-8 forward said he would have needed surgery had the fracture been a half inch lower and that there was concern that he might damage it further if he continued to play, but it was worth taking the chance.
• Sloan honored: Jerry Sloan, Kevin Durant and the Indiana Pacers media relations staff were honoured today by the Professional Basketball Writers Association. Sloan is the inaugural winner of the PBWA's Rudy Tomjanovich Award, which is to be given annually to the NBA coach who best combines excellence in coaching and co-operation with the needs of the media.
"In his 23-year career, Jerry was unfailingly good with the media and his coaching accomplishments speak for themselves. We're delighted to name him a unanimous winner of our first Rudy Tomjanovich Award," said Doug Smith of the Toronto Star, the president of the PBWA.
In naming the award after Tomjanovich, the PBWA also honors an icon of the coaching industry and someone who understood the needs of the media and went out of his way to be helpful, respectful and accessible.
Durant, of the Oklahoma City Thunder, is the winner of the PBWA's Magic Johnson Award, given annually to the player who combines on-court performance with steady co-operation with the media, in the same manner as Johnson did during his Hall of Fame career. The Indianapolis media relations staff -- Director David Benner , manager Krissy Myers and assistant Tim Edwards -- are winners of the PBWA's Brian McIntyre Award, named after the highly-respected former Senior Vice President of Basketball Communications for the NBA and currently the Senior Communications Advisor to NBA Commissioner David Stern .
Due to ongoing renovations to UVU's softball field, this weekend's PCSC series with the Northern Colorado Bears will be moved to the Spanish Fork Sports Complex (900 South Main, Spanish Fork). The times and dates will still remain the same, as Friday and Saturday's doubleheaders will both begin at noon Admission will be free to the public for all four games.
• Wolverine honored: Utah Valley's Tiera Zaugg-Hansen has been named the female Great West Conference Track & Field Athlete of the Week.
Zaugg-Hansen, a seniorh, set two new school records last Friday at two different meets and then broke one of those the following day at a third meet.
First, Zaugg-Hansen set a new school record in the long jump (19 feet, 4.25 inches) at the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific University, then drove 20 minutes to the Mt. SAC Relays and set a new school record in the 400-meter hurdles (1:01.20). The following day at the Long Beach Invitational, she set a new standard in the 400m hurdles (1:00.58).
MINNEAPOLIS -- After four long and intense mediation sessions between the NFL and its locked-out players, the judge decided to give both parties an extended break. By the time they reconvene in mid-May, the landscape of their discussions could be completely different.
Executive vice president Jeff Pash , the NFL's lead negotiator, said Wednesday that U.S. Judge Magistrate Arthur Boylan told both sides they likely won't convene again until May 16 because he has a few other matters on his judicial calendar.
In the interim, U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson is expected to decide well before then on the players' request to immediately lift the now 40-day-old lockout. Also coming: U.S. District Judge David Doty has scheduled a hearing for May 12 on the players' request for damages after he ruled in March that the NFL did not maximize revenues for both sides when it renegotiated $4 billion in TV contracts with the labor dispute looming.
Finally, there could be a fourth set of lawyers and players at the mediation table, with a Philadelphia law firm talking with another group of players about joining the fight.
"We've had discussions about representing some additional players who want to have a voice in the matter," said Bryan Clobes of Cafferty Faucher.
Those discussions are ongoing, but all of those elements combined could swing the leverage to one side or the other in a case where there has been little of it, perhaps increasing the chances the court-ordered mediation will produce some much-needed progress with the first preseason game just 3 ½ months away.
"There's a lot of uncertainties right now," Pash said. "I think when we're back together we'll know more. People's legal positions will be clearer."
Both sides said the sessions with Boylan were positive and productive.
"I think everybody believes it was helpful and that's really where we are," said Jim Quinn, an attorney for the players.
Hall of Fame player Carl Eller agreed.
"I do feel very positive about the 2011 season," Eller said. "I think everybody has come here with the idea to have a 2011 season and it's just not been easy to get to that point. So I think everybody's been working hard toward that goal. Seeing them work to that end makes me much more optimistic. I would certainly say we're going to have a 2011 season."
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league is planning to start the season on time despite the lengthy process of navigating the legal system.
• 49ers would welcome back QB Smith : The San Francisco 49ers would welcome back quarterback Alex Smith if the 2005 first overall pick wants to return.
General manager Trent Baalke said Wednesday that the 49ers have extended an "olive branch" to Smith to come back to the only NFL team he has ever known. All that started before the NFL locked out the players in the ongoing labor dispute.
Smith can't sign with San Francisco -- or any other team -- until the labor situation is settled and free agency begins.
New coach Jim Harbaugh already has expressed confidence in Smith as a quarterback in his system, and Baalke made it clear that the 49ers made an offer for the free agent to return.
"It's up to Alex to make the decision on whether he wants to be a 49er again," Baalke said. "I think Jim's made it clear. We've made it clear through the process that the olive branch has been extended."
A call to Smith's agent, Howard Skall, and an email to the quarterback seeking comment weren't immediately returned.
Smith was demoted and promoted several times last season and has had a different offensive coordinator every year since coming out of Utah. He has fallen out of favor with fans -- many of whom have booed him on several occasions -- and has failed to lead the 49ers to the playoffs.
With the lockout canceling offseason workouts, postponing free agency and threatening training camp, San Francisco is at a disadvantage perhaps more than most teams. David Carr is the only quarterback on the roster, and asking a rookie to take the reins with a shortened offseason could be even more difficult.
The 49ers have the No. 7 pick in next week's NFL draft and will likely take a quarterback at some point.
Team president Jed York, speaking on a conference call forum with some 5,000 fans Wednesday night, had a little fun with the idea of Harbaugh's NFL playing history.
"If we don't have a quarterback at least our head coach has been a quarterback in the league and we might suit him up for a couple of games. Jim has been working out hard," York said. "Obviously the quarterback position is the most important position on the field and (Trent and Jim) are going to figure out who the best guy is. They said today they'd like Alex to be in the mix, but it's up to Alex to decide if he wants to be here."
While fans have wavered on Smith's ability to lead San Francisco, Baalke believes the quarterback's experience in the West Coast offense -- which Harbaugh plans to run -- and his time with the team make him a valuable option in an offseason of uncertainty.
The Factor, Jaycito still eyeing Kentucky Derby.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Bob Baffert says Jaycito and The Factor are still being considered for the Kentucky Derby.
Baffert wrote in a text message on Wednesday to The Associated Press that The Factor will train up to the Derby. A final decision won't be made until the horse breezes over the dirt under the twin spires.
The Rebel Stakes winner is coming off a disappointing seventh-place finish in the Arkansas Derby.
Baffert added Jaycito, currently 20th on the graded stakes earnings list, will not run in this weekend's Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.
Jaycito missed the Santa Anita Derby on April 9 because of a bruised foot. Baffert said the Derby on May 7 is still possible even though the horse has just one start this year.
Baffert already has one Derby starter in Midnight Interlude, who edged Comma to the Top by a head to win the Santa Anita Derby on April 9.
The Derby is limited to 20 starters, with preference given to those with the most graded stakes earnings if more than 20 are entered.
The Factor is currently 17th in earnings with $272,500; Jaycito is 19th with $250,000. Midnight Interlude's $600,000 payday for winning in Santa Anita places him seventh on the graded list.
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