No, Matt Carlino is Not the "Next Jimmer"

I am getting a little apprehensive of all these people who are saying Matt Carlino is the “next Jimmer”. Don't get me wrong: I ABSOLUTELY LOVE CARLINO. He's my new favorite BYU baller. I think he's amazing, and I think he will bring great things to BYU over the next 3 years. But just a few months ago, everyone was saying Jake Heaps was the "next Jimmer." Look how that turned out. (Side note: Kansas? Seriously?)

My question is: Why do we need another Jimmer? I don't think we do. We need good team players who can get the ball in the hoop, play through adversity, and have a great attitude. Did Jimmer have all those things? Absolutely. Is Jimmer the only person who went through BYU recently with all those things? Absolutely not. Everyone needs to stop looking, wishing, hoping and praying for the "next Jimmer."

Did anyone ever refer consistently to Jimmer as the "next Danny Ainge"? Not that I ever heard. Some people said he was the greatest player since Danny Ainge, but that's fine. He's still his own person. Jimmer is still The Jimmer. The one and only Jimmer. There will never be another Jimmer.

Matt has only played in 3 games. For goodness sakes, give him time to develop his own vibe. He may not have a name as cool as "Jimmer", but if he lives up to his potential and the current hype, there will be some new slogan about him on t-shirts and posters all over Provo by March. But please don't make it "You Got Carlino-ed" or "Teach Me How to Carlino"... because he's not Jimmer (if I haven't made that clear enough already).

I bet if you asked Carlino if he wanted to be the "next Jimmer", he'd say no. Carlino probably only wants to be Carlino, the next great legend at BYU. And that's who he should be.