Shots from the Heart

SHOTS FROM THE HEART

The first round of the Free Throw Shooting Tournament is complete

Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey isn't the best shooter on his staff. That title goes to assistant coach Martin Ingelsby who scored 28 points in his first round contest. Unfortunately for him his opponent Dan Englestad (Holy Cross) tallied 30 points. However 27 points was good enough for Mike Brey to advance to the second round.

Check out the video of Mike Brey shooting his free throws and talking about the tournament

There have been a number of excellent shooting performances in the tournament thus far. UNLV head coach Lon Kruger was a perfect 25-for-25 in his win over Davidson's Bob McKillop. Kruger's bracket may be the toughest in the tournament with Iowa State's Fred Hoiberg and New Mexico's Steve Alford also making all 25 shots in the first round. Kruger will face Minnesota's Tubby Smith in the second round, which will take place in December.

Check out the video of Tubby Smith shooting his free throws

One of the favorites in the assistant coach tournament, Kellen Sampson (Stephen F. Austin) predicted he would make 25 straight. He missed his first shot but made the next 24. Sampson said he was used to shooting in front of an empty arena, explaining that he only got into the game when the game was already out of reach.

Check out the video of Kellen Sampson shooting his free throws and talking about competing in the event

One of the biggest fans of the event is George Mason head coach Jim Larranaga. Coach L doesn't see himself going deep into the field, but he is looking forward to competing. He believes Radford's Brad Greenberg should be considered as on the favorites to win it.

Check out the video of Jim Larranaga talking about the event

As expected, the 'Shots from the Heart' tournament has brought out the competitive nature of the coaching profession. Some have taken that competiveness to another level.

"This is a great tournament," said Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg. "It's a great way to pay tribute to Skip Prosser and a great way to find out which coaches have weakness in their game."

Greenberg, one of the organizers of the event, was particularly interested the matchup between Bruiser Flint (Drexel) and Brad Greenberg (Radford). "To be honest I didn't see Bruiser having a much of chance," said Seth. "Brad is an excellent free throw shooter. The final result is no surprise at all."

Check out the video of Bruiser Flint shooting his free throws

Seth's brother, Brad converted on all 25 attempts to advance. As for Seth, his opponent was a familiar face in Santa Clara head coach Kerry Keating. "If I can't beat Keating I will retire," joked Greenberg.

"To be honest I was pleased to see my first round matchup was against Seth," said Keating. "To give him a chance, I decided to shoot right-handed." The lefty Keating shot it well. Greenberg didn't. Keating advances to the second round.

"In all seriousness I was fortunate to get on good run early and hope that it was enough to advance," said Keating. "Good luck to Seth and all the participants, everyone is a winner as we help raise awareness and honor a great man at the same time."

The back-and-forth exchange wasn't reserved only for Greenberg and Keating. Fairfield's Ed Cooley and Rider's Tommy Dempsey have been chirping since they learned that they would face one another in the opening round.

"I told CollegeInsider.com that I wanted Dempsey," said Cooley. "I know Tommy well and he can't shoot."

Dempsey responded. "My advice to Ed is be careful what you wish for. He wanted me and he's got me."

Kent State head coach Geno Ford spoke about participating in the tournament. "Having the opportunity to be involved with anything that pays tribute to Skip Prosser is a tremendous honor," said Ford. "He was a great coach and an even better person. I have never met anyone in the coaching profession that didn't deeply enjoy their friendship with Coach Prosser."

As for his first round matchup with Duquesne's Ron Everhart, Ford knows the pressure is on. "There is definitely pressure to perform well," he said. "Like every coaching staff in the country we are on our guys about shooting free throws every day in practice, so I already know there are 13 guys on our roster that are rooting against Coach [Rob] Senderoff and I."

Check out the jumbotron at a recent Kent State home game

Both Will Brown (Albany) and Jeff Bzdelik were perfect from the line, converting all 25 attempts. "I was fortunate," said Brown. "I have a spent a lot time practicing and it paid off." Brown and Bzdelik could meet down the road in the round of 16.

As impressive as those performances were, Steve Pikiell's 25-for-25 was even better. The Stony Brook head coach is shooting with a bad Achilles. It's difficult to move, but Coach Pikiell can shoot it.

Arizona head coach Sean Miller described his first round performance as being, "mediocre." One of the pre-tournament favorites got a challenge from Stephen F. Austin's Danny Kaspar, but managed to advance.

And Miller felt fortunate.

"I'm excited," said Miller. "I was a little nervous about the number I posted, but I am happy to advance. Much like an NCAA Tournament game, you are always happy to get that first win under your belt and get rid of the nervousness and anxiousness. I look forward to the second-round match up."

Check out the recap from ArizonaWildcats.com

The battle for New Jersey was closely contested affair in Monmouth's Dave Calloway managed to slip past St. Peter's John Dunne. "John is a tough competitor," said Calloway. "I was lucky to squeak that one out. I had a couple lucky rolls around the rim that fell my way. I'm looking forward to moving on to the next round and continuing to increase awareness in Skip's name."

The very first matchup of the tournament needed to be decided by a tie-breaker. Xavier's Chris Mack made ten consecutive free throws to advance to the second round. Oakland's Greg Kampe, who was on the wrong side of the final result, is already looking forward to next season.

"This is a great event," said Kampe. "I think 'Shots from the Heart' is only going to get bigger and better in the coming years. What a great way to pay tribute to Skip Prosser. We had a lot of fun with it here at Oakland, but I still want to see the replay of coach Mack's final shot to see if he got it off in time."

Check out the recap from OUGrizzlies.com