Evin Demirel – Can Dusty Hannahs Bomb His Way to National Attention?

Basketball, Razorbacks | March 2, 2016 by | 0 Comments

 

On Saturday evening, Steph Curry did something hardly any other NBA player would dream of even attempting, let alone actually accomplish. In the waning seconds of an overtime thriller against Oklahoma City, the Golden State superstar dribbled the the ball across halfcourt and pulled up from 37 feet away — a full 14 farther than the three-point line — to bury the game-winning dagger.

Curry is almost certainly the world’s best ultra long-range bomber, hitting an incredible 66% of his shots from 28 to 43 feet away from the basket. The next best NBA shooter from that distance, for comparison, chimes in at 25 percent.

Few players at any level can hope to rival Curry’s extreme range, but Arkansas’ own Dusty Hannahs has a legit shot. This season the 22-year-old Little Rock native has developed into the one of the SEC’s most lethal scorers while having perhaps the most efficient three-point shooting season in Razorback history.

Here are Hannahs’ most impressive conference rankings heading into tonight’s game against Alabama:

No. 7 in the SEC in: Points: (470)

No. 5: Three-Point Field Goals (75)

No. 3: Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (44.9%)*

No. 3: Effective Field Goal Percentage (56.9%)

No. 3: True Shooting Percentage (61.2%)

No. 1: Free Throw Percentage (86.4%)

Hannahs is a much better player than he was during his freshman and sophomore seasons at Texas Tech. Some of that is due to the fact he plays with an equally devastating marksman in Anthlon Bell, and both bombers’ presence helps create space for the other. Plus, since his Red Raider days, Hannahs has shown a vastly improved ability to drive to the hoop and create his own shot through an assortment of floaters.

But nothing is more impressive than Hannahs’ sheer shooting range. In games this season he has made more shots from the Bud Walton Arena court pig tail/snout than any player in Razorback history (including Al Dillard). Other than Curry,  I know of nobody else in college or the NBA who can regularly do the following with such ease:

 

Hannahs’ improvement in his first season as a Razorback has inspired Jon Rothstein, CBS Sports college basketball insider, to dub him “the most underrated transfer in college basketball.”

When the Hogs pull off a major win tonight against Alabama, expect Hannahs to finally start getting more of the national exposure he deserves.

Evin Demirel writes more about Razorback basketball at BestOfArkansasSports.com.

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