Sometimes it's fun to imagine how history might be different had the 3-point shot been part of the game during the ACC's first three-plus decades. Just restrict the fantasy to former Blue Devils: how much would the shot have benefited the likes of Jeff Mullins and Bob Verga and Tate Armstrong and Chip Engelland and Johnny Dawkins, just to name a few?
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These days the three is an integral part of the game, and more than a dozen returning ACC players rely on the shot for a majority of their field goal attempts from the floor. Among the top 10 is Duke senior guard Quinn Cook -- he tried 175 3-pointers in 317 attempts overall in 2014.
Of those most reliant on the shot in the ACC last season, only Notre Dame's Pat Connaughton had more overall field goal tries than Cook. The Irish senior also played an average of eight more minutes per game than the Blue Devil guard. Both were the third-leading scorers on their teams, although Connaughton averaged two more points.
Virginia freshman London Perrantes probably was as good as anyone at taking advantage of the 3-pointer, hitting 43.7 percent of his tries. The starting point guard for the 2014 conference champions was even better in ACC and NCAA tournament play - he made half of his 3-pointers (10-20 in six games) and threes comprised two-thirds of his field goal attempts.
LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP ACC Players Relying Most Heavily on 3-Pointers as Percentage of Overall Field Goal Attempts (Minimum Two 3-Point Attempts per Game) |
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Player, School | 3Atts | FGAtts | 3s% All FG Att | 3Pt% |
Will Johnson, VT | 75 | 82 | .915 | .360 |
Lonnie Jackson, BC | 140 | 169 | .828 | .379 |
Evan Nolte, V | 51 | 66 | .773 | .333 |
Trevor Cooney, ND | 240 | 332 | .723 | .375 |
Alex Dragicevich, BC | 58 | 82 | .707 | .345 |
Steve Vasturia, ND | 82 | 117 | .701 | .329 |
Ralston Turner, NCS | 207 | 310 | .668 | .372 |
Pat Connaughton, ND | 201 | 343 | .586 | .378 |
Quinn Cook, D | 175 | 317 | .552 | .371 |
London Perrantes, V | 87 | 159 | .547 | .437 |