Jimmy Degraffenried

Class of 1990

Basketball

Jimmy received many awards during his basketball playing days at Payson High. He earned Most Outstanding Sophomore, MVP at the Pineview Tourney, All-Star for Payson High School, Pepsi Shootout at Weber High, AAA All-Star High School and 1st Team All-State.

After PHS, Jimmy studied and played basketball at Weber State University. During his college days he was twice named Big Sky All-Conference (1995 and 1996), twice named Big Sky All-Academic (1995 and 1996), Big Sky Most Valuable Player (1996), and the Crystal Crest award for Weber State. In two of his seasons (1993 and 1994) he played on teams that won the Big Sky Conference Championship. DeGraffenried, during his playing career as a 'Cat, held several Big Sky season and career marks, including: free-throw percentage -- .854 (6^th all-time); 3-pointers made – 70 (1995); free throws, single game – (15 of 15 vs. Alaska-Anchorage, 1996); scoring, all games (1996), and free throw leader (1991, 1996). His name also dots the Weber State record books, including free-throw percentage -- 15-15 (1996); career scoring – 1,624 points (13^th); season scoring – 637, 21.2 points per game (6^th, 1996); and career rebounding – 537 (15^th ).

After college, Jimmy played basketball in New Zealand for the Waikato Warriors where he was the league's leading scorer and MVP. He played In Sweden for the Sodertalje Kings where he led the league that season in 3-point percentage. He also had a pair of short contracts with teams in Taiwan and France for a couple of years.

Jimmy served as an assistant coach at Payson High for several years. His influence is widely felt throughout the Payson High Athletics. Jimmy was inducted into Nebo Hall of Fame in 2009

Inducted 2020