Zach Hodskins has one of the smoothest basketball strokes you will ever see. But it’s not his incredibly accurate shot that has heads turning across the nation. It’s the fact that Hodskins can shoot like that with only one arm.
Earlier this month, the University of Florida and head coach Billy Donovan offered Hodskins a spot on the team as a walk-on. The offer would guarantee him a spot on the bench beginning in 2014 without a full scholarship. Hodskins has yet to decide if we will attend Florida.
“When I’m out [on the court], I forget my arm isn’t there and just play ball,” Hodskins told the News-Herald of Northern Ohio. “Passion and love for the sport helps me overcome all obstacles. To this day I haven’t come across anything I can’t do.”
Hodskins has played high school and AAU ball over the past several years and scouts who have watched him play say he has incredible fundamentals and a “deadly” jump shot. Marcus Gibbs, Hodskins’ AAU coach for the Tennessee Playmakers, said Hodskins is an inspiration both on and off the court.
“He is a role model to any aspiring basketball player that no matter the odds if you work harder than everybody else the sky is the limit,” Gibbs told Prep Rally back in December. “There is nothing that this kid cannot do and if there is he will definitely work to eliminate that problem!”
The University of Alabama-Birmingham and Birmingham Southern have both reportedly been considering offering Hodskins a scholarship. While Hodskins’ story is heartwarming and inspirational, this isn’t a matter of a kid who has faced obstacles being allowed to score by an opponent. He can flat out ball.
