By BOB FERRANTE
FOXSportsFlorida.com contributor
March 4, 2011
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The best free-throw shooter on Florida State's bench may be assistant coach Stan Jones.
That's not a knock on Michael Snaer or Okaro White, both of whom shoot 80 percent from the line.
It's just tough to beat Jones' numbers. He has made 96 of 100 free throws -- including 48 consecutive free throws at one point -- to advance to the Final Four of the Shots from the Heart campaign. The event benefits the American Heart Association and is done in the name of former Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser, who passed away in 2007 from a heart attack.
"He was one of the really good guys in our business because he carried himself with class and dignity," Jones said. "He wasn't so overwhelmed with egos. You knew he was doing things the right way.
"I also lost my father (Floyd) to heart disease, so when you get those kind of combinations together you get an emotional tug to participate."
Jones, 50, has showed off one of the most consistent shooting touches in the event, which features brackets for head coaches and assistant coaches. Each coach shoots 25 free throws (per round) on his campus with a member of the athletics staff tallying the results. Jones has defeated Wofford's Mark Prosser, Tulane's Andy Fox, Sam Houston State's Alvin Brooks and George Mason's Michael Huger.
An assistant at FSU for nine seasons, Jones actually tied Huger with 24 free throws made in the Elite Eight. But Jones made 17 straight shots during the round to advance by virtue of the tiebreaker and compete against three other assistants in the Final Four in April (which will be held at some point during the real Final Four in Houston).
Jones, a walk-on at Memphis State in the 1980s, has always been something of a gym rat. He said he could never run the court or jump high, but he was known as a good ball-handler, passer and shooter.
He learned to shoot free throws from his youth coaches and by watching the NBA's game of the week on television.
"I had some coaches who always took time to teach people how to shoot free throws," Jones said. "I'm also the kind of person who can watch something and replicate it pretty well. I just watched great shooters. Jerry West was a guy I watched growing up. I tried to emulate his shooting form."
And when it comes to the right shooting form, Jones believes that there really isn't a right or wrong way. Jones has seen players with awful mechanics make free throws consistently. Instead, the process is more about being comfortable and then putting in the time to refine the stroke.
"It's a little bit like a golf swing," Jones said. "You want to have a good grip, you want to have a good tempo, you want to have a good follow through. With everything aligned, the ball is going to go where you aligned."
And at an astounding rate, they are going in the basket. Yes, Jones is often doing it in FSU's empty practice gym and not a packed, 10,000-seat arena. But his consistent shot has drawn the attention of FSU players, who both appreciate Jones' achievement and are somewhat concerned about having a lower percentage than their assistant coach.
"You don't want your 50-year-old coach to outshoot you at the free-throw line," laughed FSU guard Derwin Kitchen, who has made 75 percent of his free-throw attempts this season. "It's motivation. I can't let Coach Jones outshoot me."
For more information about the event, go to collegeinsider.com/shots. Fans can sponsor Jones or any other coach in the even by contacting shots@collegeinsider.com.
