Wichita State’s Fred VanVleet hits the target for his shooters

NORMAL, Ill. – The perfect passes from Fred VanVleet, which is to say most of them, give the shooter a clear mind by removing distractions.

“Where you ask for the ball, is where he’s going to put it,” Wichita State center Bush Wamukota said. “He gives you such a nice pass, that if you don’t finish you feel bad about it.”

VanVleet, a junior guard, enters Saturday’s game at Illinois State with 419 assists, 11 behind Wichita State career leader Toure Murry. VanVleet’s assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.61 ranks fifth nationally and his career ratio of 3.17 is on pace to beat the NCAA record of 3.01 by Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor.

When he leaves WSU, VanVleet will have made more shooters happy than any other Shocker and, perhaps, at a more-efficient rate than any other player in college basketball.

“Besides making a defensive play, that’s the most gratifying thing I do for my teammates, throwing a pass that leads to a basket,” VanVleet said. “You can only shoot the ball through the hoop so many times. There’s got to be something else that drives you that’s gratifying. Otherwise, we’d just sit around and shoot by ourselves all day.”

The 15th-ranked Shockers (22-3, 12-1 Missouri Valley Conference) start a two-game road trip at Illinois State (15-10, 7-6) on Saturday and are tied for first place in the MVC with Northern Iowa with five games remaining.

Passing requires a willingness to give up the ball. Perfect passing, the way VanVleet practices it, requires the hand-eye coordination to deliver the ball with the right speed and movement, the work ethic to make that second nature and the mind to beat the defense. Delivering the ball in the perfect spot for a shooter to catch and shoot, without needing to move his feet, reach or twist his body, is one of basketball’s rarest skills.

He possesses strong, nimble hands and the discipline to rotate the ball while passing so he can deliver it to his teammate in ready-to-shoot form. VanVleet studies his teammates and finds some players, such as WSU guard Ron Baker, like a hard pass. Some, like senior Tekele Cotton and most big men, want the ball to arrive a bit softer.

“Not a lot of players are going to give you that backspin or that perfect seam pass like Fred does,” Cotton said. “Some balls are hard. Some balls are spinning. His just feel perfect.”

For Baker, the constant focus of defensive attention, a perfect pass can give him an extra split-second to shoot over a defender. He can’t afford to reach to his knees or reset his footwork to compensate for a pass that leads him away from the basket. VanVleet often gives him the ball in a rhythm that makes the transition from pass to shot close to a continuation play.

“It’s always in your shooter’s pocket, whether you’re on the move or not,” Baker said. “He always throws you the seams. The ball is spinning to me just like it will spin when it comes out of my hand. I can grip the seams, it’s right in my pocket and I can shoot it right away.”

VanVleet‘s job is to study his shooters. Whether they know it or not, he knows their form and how to best lead them to a score. Playing with good shooters helps and VanVleet takes his responsibility to make their job easy seriously.

“If a guy’s shot pocket is above his chest, you don’t want to throw him the ball by his knees,” VanVleet said. “Some guys’ shot pockets are low, and if you throw it to them high, then they’ve got to dip it. Just small things that you can figure out how to get the quickest, most efficient shot off.”

Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall saw an accomplished passer while he recruited VanVleet out of Rockford (Ill.) Auburn High. Once VanVleet curbed a habit of floating a few passes, something high school and AAU defenders let him get away with, he became a model for point-guard efficiency.

“He understands the intricacies of the game,” Marshall said. “Not just, ‘I’m going to make a pass to this guy.’ That’s very vague. It’s ‘I’m going to make a pass to this guy, on time, so that he’s getting exactly when he needs it. On target, right in the shot pocket.”

VanVleet, who averages an MVC-leading 5.5 assists, will pass Murry soon. Murry, now playing in the NBA Developmental League, is watching and happy to see a player he knows and respects climb WSU’s assists chart.

“If there was one person that was going to break it, I was sure it was going to be Fred,” Murry said. “He’s not a typical college, young guy. I like his pace. He really gets everybody involved.”

A week ago, Murry and VanVleet, both of whom wore No. 23 as Shockers, recorded triple-doubles with almost identical stats. VanVleet had WSU’s first triple-double since 1972 with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists vs. Missouri State. Murry posted 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers against the Texas Legends.

Murry sent a message of congratulations to VanVleet on Twitter with the hashtag #salute. Within the next week or so, he is ready to congratulate VanVleet again.

This story was originally published February 13, 2015 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Wichita State’s Fred VanVleet hits the target for his shooters."