Purdue senior center A.J. Hammons is known as one of the best low post scorers in the country, and for good reason. The 7-foot, 260-pound big man is shooting 62.4 percent on two-pointers this season. It’s only surpassed by his proficiency from three-point range.
Purdue 7-footer A.J. Hammons is the best 3-point shooter in America
Watch out, Steph Curry. The Purdue center is coming for you.
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Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
In Purdue’s win over Michigan on Thursday, Hammons went off for 17 points, five rebounds and four blocks on 70 percent shooting from the field. More importantly, he hit another three-pointer, making him 4-for-4 from behind the arc this season:
Out of the 56 players who entered Thursday having made a three-pointer without missing one, none of them have four makes to their name. So we’re taking this opportunity to declare A.J. Hammons the best three-point shooter in the country.
We went back and found every three-pointer made and attempted by Hammons this year, because we love you. His first came in Purdue’s fifth game of the season against Florida, when he ripped this triple at the end of the shot clock:
Ten days later, he went 2-for-2 from deep against Pitt. He thought about his first one long and hard, but of course found the bottom the net once he let it fly:
Then he hit one in garbage time of a Purdue blowout win, just because he can:
Maybe not the most fluid stroke you’ll ever see, but it’s hard not to love watching the big man hit from deep like this. Hammons’ three-point shooting is a total abnormality given his track record the previous three seasons of his college career, by the way. Heading into this season, Hammons was 0-for-12 from deep.
New year, new me. Long live A.J. Hammons, America’s newest and most beloved sharpshooter.
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SB Nation video archives: How the 3-pointer went from novelty to necessary (2015)
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