BYU’s Jimmer Fredette is AP player of the year

Jimmer Fredette, who led the country in scoring and became a one-name star in his senior season at Brigham Young, was selected the Associated Press’ player of the year.

“It’s been quite a ride and it’s been a lot of fun and I wouldn’t take anything back,” Fredette said. “I had quite the career at BYU. There were a lot of ups and downs, but there were a lot more ups this year.”

The Cougars won the Mountain West Conference regular-season title, lost to San Diego State in the tournament final, fell to Florida in overtime in the NCAA tournament round of 16 and finished with a 32-5 record.

“I just knew right from the beginning we could have a very good year with the guys returning, and it was one of the most talented teams I’ve ever played on,” said Fredette, who averaged 28.5 points. “Then we started to play well and beat Arizona, and I knew from there we could be a force. That’s what happened because we stayed hungry all year, and that’s what separated us from other teams.”

Fredette received 48 votes from the 65-member national media panel that selects the weekly top 25. The voting was done before the NCAA tournament. Kemba Walker of Connecticut was second with 11 votes.

Notre Dame’s Mike Brey was selected the coach of the year as he led the Fighting Irish to a second-place finish in the Big East and a No. 5 ranking in the final poll.

“The personality of this group was so stable whether it was a big win or a loss, they stayed stable,” said Brey, who has been at Notre Dame for 11 seasons. “When they had great wins it didn’t change them. When they had a tough loss it didn’t change them. Stable is the word.”

Brey drew 28 votes, 14 more than runner-up Steve Fisher of San Diego State.

USC in WNIT final

USC’s women’s basketball team will play Toledo on Saturday afternoon in the WNIT championship game at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio.

USC (24-12) will try to win its fifth consecutive road game. The Trojans, who opened the tournament at home against UC Santa Barbara, advanced to the final with victories at Nevada, Brigham Young, Colorado and Illinois State.

“We’re all clicking,” said junior guard Briana Gilbreath, who averages a team-best 14.4 points a game. “People are making shots and we’re doing everything right.”

Naama Shafir, a junior guard from Israel, averages 14.6 points a game for Toledo (28-8).

— Gary Klein

Etc.

Oklahoma will name Nevada Las Vegas’ Lon Kruger as its men’s coach, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told ESPN.com.