LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kyler Filewich doesn’t go to the foul line looking for style points, just those that count on the scoreboard for Wofford College.
That’s why the senior center from Canada asked coaches for tips, leading him to switch from the traditional overhand shot on free throws to a throwback style.
Granny style. Underhand toss. Or in another way of looking at it, the shot that Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member Rick Barry turned into an art form. Barry even came to Spartanburg, South Carolina, to give Filewich some personal tutoring.
While the numbers say Filewich has continued to struggle from the line, he said his confidence has grown. That’s good news for the Terriers (19-15), who have more basketball to play in March. They won the Southern Conference tournament earlier this month as the 10-team bracket’s No. 6 seed and are in the 68-team NCAA Division I tourney for the first time since 2019.
“I haven’t necessarily always had the success that I wanted,” the 6-foot-9, 250-pounder from Winnipeg said Wednesday. “But I feel like I’m pretty confident in it. When I needed to, (about) five minutes left in the SoCon title (game) … I was able to step up and make two when it mattered.”