If you watched any of the Round of 64 game between Wisconsin and American University on Thursday, you may have noticed something a bit bizarre. American U. center Tony Wroblicky shoots his free throws with one hand. No, he doesn’t take his guide hand off the ball early. He really shoots them one-handed.
And he’s pretty good at it, too. American head coach Mike Brennan came up with the idea during his first season with the team this year. Wroblicky, a senior, shot a combined 55.1% from the free throw line during his first three seasons. He is up to 72% this season using the one-handed method.
“It was a real ugly shot,” Wroblicky told the Journal Sentinel of his old approach on Wednesday. “(Brennan) just had me shoot with one hand just to get the kinks out of it. He never told me to stop. He told me to continue doing that. It’s his baby.”
Brennan advised Wroblicky to shoot one-handed as a drill in practice, and they decided to carry it over into games. His first free throw attempts came during American’s second game of the year. Wroblicky went 3-for-9 from the line and shot two air balls. He stuck with it anyway.
“Coach Brennan didn’t really give me a choice,” he said. “I just stuck with it and it’s been working.”
Consider that reason No. 1,576 we love the NCAA Tournament.
H/T For the Win
GIF via SB Nation
