Wofford center Kyler Filewich has become the internet’s latest fascination due to his unorthodox free throw shooting form.
On Saturday, a clip of Filewich went viral showing him shoot a free throw during Wofford’s game against Samford at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg, S.C. The 6’9″ center used an underhanded shooting form made famous by NBA legend Rick Barry.
But beyond using Barry’s granny shot, the fifth-year senior took it a step further by using the glass on his free throw attempts. See Filewich’s bizarre free throw shot for yourself.
Unlike Barry, whose career 89.98% free throw rate ranks 4th in NBA history, Filewich has never been proficient at the line. In his five seasons of college basketball, Filewich has never shot better than 50% from the charity stripe. That’s probably why he’s been willing to try such an outside-the-box free throw style.
Filewich entered Saturday’s game shooting a woeful 31.2% from the line, which is likely why Samford repeatedly fouled him and sent him to the line 10 times. To Filewich’s credit, he went 6/10 on free throws and led his team with 18 points in a 76-68 Wofford loss.
The NBA has seen some pretty bizarre free throw shooting forms over the last couple of years, from Jeremy Sochan’s one-handed form to Tacko Fall’s push shot. Filewich may not be headed to the NBA, but he does have everyone else beat in terms of creativity.
The man is arguably the Mac McClung of free throw shooting.
