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College basketball player switches to underhand free-throws due to horrific career numbers
By Paul Harvey
Published:
College basketball has seen all sorts of shooting styles and trends over the years, and one Division I player is trying to bring back underhand free-throws.
That player would be Kyler Filewich, a star big man for Wofford and a candidate for college basketball’s All-Name team. He leads the Southern Conference with 9.3 rebounds and also averages 11.4 points and 3.3 assists for the Terriers, but there’s just one problem.
Filewich cannot shoot free-throws. No, he really cannot shoot free-throws to the tune of a career 37.5% mark from the free-throw line.
Filewich has struggled with the task throughout his college basketball career, but he shot 47% from the charity stripe during his first 2 seasons which were spent at Southern Illinois. In 3 seasons at Wofford, Filewich has steadily gotten worse, going from 40.7% his first season in the program to 31.6% last season and then to 31.2% this year.
Things got so bad that Filewich is now utilizing underhand free-throws, affectionately referred to as “granny-style” by many, in live games. A recent ESPN broadcast detailed how Filewich even got in touch with Rick Barry, an NBA Hall of Famer who utilized the method, to try and improve his touch.
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So, how is Filewich doing with his new-found stroke? He appears to be improving! While he did go 1-for-2 against Chattanooga and was 0-for-4 vs. Mercer, he has hit on over 60% of his attempts in the last 2 games.
In a win over The Citadel, Filewich was 4-for-6, which is good for a 66.7% rate from the free-throw line! He followed that up by making 6-of-10 tries during Saturday’s game against Samford. Wofford lost that game, but it’s a new career-high mark for Filewich in free-throws made in a game.
We’ll see how his college basketball career winds up after his change in free-throw shooting!
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
