Only three players in NCAA Basketball have an Effective Field Goal Percentage >= 70%. Can you guess who they are?
When evaluating a player’s offensive shooting efficiency, effective field goal percentage (EFG%) is the way to go. Rather than just giving the “efficiency crown” to 7-footers that dunk all their baskets, EFG% accounts for the value of the three-pointer, thus giving the “little guys” a chance at the throne. But as we’ll see, when it comes obtaining high EFG%’s, being tall doesn’t hurt (for reference, here’s basketball-reference’s definition of EFG%).
(All statistics used in this article were found via KenPom and basketball-reference and are up to date through the games completed on Jan 30.).
The club is quite small, although membership has grown at a higher rate in the last five years or so. It may add three more members at the conclusion of this season, each of whom have gotten to this point in very different ways. Without further ado, here are the three prospective members of the “70% EFG%” Club: (per KenPom.com, only players that play >=60% of the minutes qualify, and data goes back to 2003-04 season).
PROSPECTIVE CLUB MEMBERS
1. Tacko Fall – UCF
Fall is vying to obtain membership status the”old-fashioned way.” At 7-6, he hasn’t attempted any threes and has made 80-107 (74.8%) of his 2-pointers, giving him an EFG% of 74.8%. What’s more? Fall is on track to become the second ever “double member,” as he first reached the milestone by posting a 71.5% EFG% during the 2016-17 season.
Care to guess the other “double member”?????? The distinction was earned by Shane Johannsen of Northern Arizona. After posting a 72.7% EFG% in 2008-09, he had a “down year” the following season at 62.9%. But Johnannsen bounced back, posting another 72.7% EFG% in 2010-11, thus sealing his place in history. Similar to Fall, Johannsen never attempted a three. Here’s a glimpse at how Fall gets it done (despite my efforts, I couldn’t find a clip of Johannsen).
(credit to
2. Tyrese Haliburton – Iowa State
Haliburton would be the first freshman to join the club (as would the third prospective member). He doesn’t take a lot of shots, currently posting the 6th highest shot percentage on the team. He has sure made them count, however, and is shooting a wider variety of shots than Fall. Haliburton is posting an EFG% of 71% by making 25-33 (75.8%) of his 2-pointers and 33-72 (45.8%) of his 3-pointers.
At 6-5, the freshman is getting some open threes through the
‘ high-powered offense and is picking his spots on 2-pointers (only averaging 1-2 two-point attempts per game in conference play). Although he doesn’t put up a lot of shots, Haliburton actually handles the ball a decent amount. But rather than shooting, he’s distributing at the highest assist rate on the team.
(credit to Big 12 conference)
3. Zion Williamson
If you’re a college basketball fan, you likely already know plenty about Zion, so I’ll keep this short. The third prospective club member is posting an EFG% of 70.3% despite only making 11-38 (28.9%) of his threes. Making 160-213 (75.1%) of his two-pointers (*dunks) has kept him within striking distance of the clubhouse. Someone should tell Zion to stop shooting threes and make the pursuit of the club his top priority. “Zion, do more of…”
(credit to
)
Let’s hope all three of these guys stay on track and remain well above the 70% threshold. The club likely won’t be installing a new president, as I don’t see any of these three surpassing Devontae Cacok’s EFG% of 79% in 2016-17 for UNC Wilmington.
But a few new members would do.