Few things are more unnerving than when the opponent has a great shooter. You watch them come off of staggered screens. You watch them v-cut. You watch them on the receiving end of a pick-and-pop. All they need is an opening, and then it's bottoms. The 3-pointer is such a dangerous weapon that all the announcer cliches about "no lead being safe" are actually true when one of the best shooters in basketball is playing for the other team
A related announcer cliche regards the decline of fundamentals. All players do these days is dunk and shoot 3s. Of course, this ignores the fact that 3-point shooting last season was the worst it's been in at least 15 years. And 11 of the top 20 3-point shooters were seniors, so what are the odds it improves this year?
Still, there are some great shooters in college hoops. Here are the guys to be feared.
Doug McDermott, 6-8 senior, Creighton
The Big East is going to get a taste of McDermott this year. He's a complete scorer, which makes him even more dangerous from the arc because he's as likely as anyone on this list to pump fake and go right past you. He made 48.6% as a sophomore and 49% as a junior.
Seth Hinrichs, 6-7 junior, Lafayette
Hinrichs played with a temper as a kid, but his older brothers hounded him about staying under control. Now he's cool and poised, and deadly from the 3-point line. Four times last year he made at least five 3s in a game, and he's shooting 46% for his career. His length as a perimeter player allows him to just shoot over people.
Nik Stauskas, 6-6 sophomore, Michigan
His shooting video in the rain is approaching 400,000 views on YouTube. After watching the video it is easy to see how Stauskas made all six of his 3s in Michigan's Elite-8 win over Florida. For the year he made 44% of his 3s. The only red flag is that he had six games where he didn't make a single three, and all six games came from January 13th on.
Devon Bookert, 6-3 sophomore, Florida State
The Alaskan guard led the nation in 3-point shooting last season (53%), but came up just a few shots shy of the needed 2 attempts per game. He also did this on a knee which was injured in a preseason scooter accident, and didn't heal until he had surgery in the post season. He's from Anchorage, AK, which also produced a pretty decent ACC shooter named Trajan Langdon.
Connor Hill, 6-2 junior, Idaho
Not a lot of people get to watch Connor Hill since the Vandals aren't a very good basketball team, but the former Idaho Player of the Year can flat out stroke it. He made 40% in limited time as a freshman, and then pressed into the starting lineup as a sophomore stepped that up to 44% as a sophomore.
Trent Mackey, 6-4 junior, Louisiana Monroe
Mackey was set to enroll at DIII Rollins College (FL) before Louisiana Monroe offered at the last moment. Now he's one of the best shooters in the country, but plays for one of the worst teams. ULM only won four times last year, and in those four wins Mackey made 14-29 3s. He had a 3-game stretch where he made 16-33 vs Florida State, UAB, and FAU, and is now a 44% shooter for his career.
Joe Harris, 6-6 senior, Virginia
Harris had a solid first couple of years for Virginia, and then really took off as a junior. He could very well end up as the ACC Player of the Year, and though he's a great all-around player, much of that is due to his shooting. Remarkably, he made at least three 3s in 12 games last year, and in nine of those games he made at least half his attempts. He stays within the game plan, and doesn't just chuck shots when his team falls behind.
