Huskies sharp-shooter shows he was worth the wait
It's been no secret among the Washington Huskies that C.J. Wilcox has an uncanny shooting touch.
He's been called the best shooter on the team, and displayed that Tuesday night with a career-high 20 points in the Huskies' 102-75 victory over Long Beach State at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
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Wilcox, a redshirt freshman, led all scorers and dazzled the home crowd with his long-range shooting. He finished with six of the Huskies' 14 3-pointers on the night and was 7 of 9 from the field overall.
"He is one of the best shooters I've ever played with or against," teammate Isaiah Thomas said.
Wilcox's oncourt success can be traced back to his days growing up in Pleasant Grove, Utah.
He developed his shot at an early age with guidance from a father who played college basketball for BYU. Since the fifth grade, Wilcox said he would take around "a thousand shots a day," working on perfecting his shooting form.
Last year when he arrived on campus at Washington, Wilcox encountered difficulty adjusting to the college game and decided it would be best to redshirt.
That decision appears to be paying off as Wilcox has quickly developed into a key contributor for the Huskies this season, and is making a strong impression on his teammates and coach Lorenzo Romar.
"He has one of the nicest jump shots and gets his feet set as well as anyone I have seen," Romar said.
Romar compared Wilcox's shooting style to Celtics guard Ray Allen.
"He works really hard," Romar said. "His dad did a phenomenal job with him teaching him the fundamentals of shooting."
Thomas joked that if he had Wilcox's shooting ability, he wouldn't stop shooting.
After playing only three minutes in a loss to Michigan State, Wilcox has shown his resilience by being able to bounce back with a big performance.
After his break-out game Tuesday night, and the amount of praise from his teammates and head coach, it is becoming clear why the Huskies are excited about the future of Wilcox.