ACC Free Throw Shooting: It’s Been Hot Lately Around The Conference

Jared McCain and Jeremy Roach paved the way for the Blue Devils last season

Another year, another statistical blindspot. Or, rather, the same blindspot, repeated annually.

The standard for qualifying for NCAA or ACC leadership in free throw accuracy is making 2.5 foul shots per game played. Yet by that standard two of the top four, and four of the top 10 marksmen from the line failed to appear among the ACC leaders in 2024.

One of them, Duke’s Jared McCain, finished second when all ACC players are taken into account. You can bet opponents noticed his acuity, even if it was officially invisible.

No one from the league’s newest members – Cal, SMU and Stanford – topped the .818 free throw accuracy achieved by the Mustangs’ Samuell Williamson, a Louisville transfer. Therefore none of their players shouldered their way into the ranks of foul shooting leaders.

Back in the ACC as constituted for the last decade, 14 regulars shot better from the line than anyone among the latest batch of newcomer programs. Each of the ACC’s top 10 made at least a pair of free throws in every game they played. Among that group, only Virginia Tech’s Lynn Kidd played fewer than 23.2 minutes per game.

Duke had two players, McCain and Jeremy Roach, among the ACC’s top nine foul shooters. Neither returns.

Wake, Virginia Tech and Clemson each made at least 78 percent of their free throws on the year. In doing so the Deacs and Hokies each set school records, their prowess boosted by Kevin Miller and Isaac McKneely at Winston-Salem and Hunter Cattoor and Kidd at Virginia Tech.

Clemson finished with accuracy diminished just a shade from its record .7849 mark in 2023, weighing in at an even .780 behind line leaders Chase Hunter and Joe Girard III, a Syracuse transfer. Girard’s free throw shooting was the best in Clemson history.

The top three Tiger scorers made at least 77.9 percent at the line. Only Virginia Tech and Wake, both of which set school records for team foul shooting last season, had superior free throw accuracy. Clemson, meanwhile, is enjoying the greatest period of free throw acuity in its history, helping it to slightly better regular-season records.

And let’s go easy critiquing the fundamental skills of today’s players, or at least one aspect of their games. Better free throw shooting has quietly become a widespread ACC trend. Only one team over the past two seasons made lower than 70 percent of its foul shots. That was Virginia in 2024.