HE WAS A LONG SHOT : Work Gave Jeremiah His Three-Point Plan

EL CAJON —  You hear a lot about players such as David Jeremiah.

There are always tales of players who don’t have that much physical talent--no quickness, no springs--but develop into shooters anyway.

They are never without a basketball. They shoot countless shots every day. They live to hit a sweet jumper.

But most of those guys--Larry Bird, Steve Alford and Scott Skiles come first to mind--are from Indiana. Does the California kid exist who would sacrifice his time in the sun to shoot by himself in some musty gym?

Well, maybe. Christian High School’s David Jeremiah seems to be exactly that type of player.

Jeremiah grew up watching Isiah Thomas and Indiana University from the front row. During those games, Jeremiah said, he developed his love for the basketball.

But although Jeremiah’s roots are in Indiana, the time he has spent on his game since he moved here after the fourth grade classifies him as a California gym rat.

Jeremiah may be the best three-point shooter in the county. He at least seems to be one who has benefited most from the new rule.

That ability to hit the shot from beyond 19-feet 9-inches has helped Jeremiah become the third-leading scorer in the county with a 23.7-point average. Jeremiah was No. 2 until he hurt his right ankle in the second quarter against Lincoln last Friday. He’ll be out at least until next week.

Jeremiah is shooting 48.4% (45 of 93) from three-point range. That is less than the team average of 50.6%, but Christian Coach Randy Wright relies on Jeremiah; he has taken 62% of the team’s three-point attempts and is accounting for 60% of its three-point scoring. Wright started 1886544227”Today we are going to learn how to play without David.”

Jeremiah’s best game of the season was against Village Christian from the Los Angeles area, when he made 7 of 11 three-pointers and finished with 38 points.

“That was one of those games where you could throw it up behind your back and it would go in,” Jeremiah said.

If you listen to Jeremiah, the three-point line is behind his success.

“(The line) has made all the difference in the world for me,” said Jeremiah, a junior playing his third year on the varsity. “Last year, I wouldn’t shoot that far out. Now I look for that shot more. I’ll take the 19-footer every time instead of a 15-footer.”

But Wright said Jeremiah’s proficiency from the three-point area just represents an overall improvement in his game.

“He is a much stronger, more confident, more fluid player this year,” Wright said. “His shot is the same from wherever he shoots it. You can see it in his free throws. He shot 65% last year, but he is shooting 78% this season.

“But I bet he gets eight points a game on the defensive end with steals that lead to layups. It’s not just the three-pointer. This is not a kid who just comes down and pumps it up every time.”

Jeremiah had to work hard to be allowed to pump it up at all. He found quickly that simply being born in Fort Wayne is not a guarantee of basketball stardom.

Jeremiah showed some potential in grade school, but he was not an outstanding player, according to his aunt, Maryalyce Jeremiah.

“The things that worried me were his speed and the slow release of his shot,” Maryalyce Jeremiah said.

And who is his aunt? She coached the women’s team at Indiana when he was growing up and now is at Cal State Fullerton. She’s the one who would give Jeremiah and his family tickets to watch Indiana play.

Jeremiah said he loved to watch Thomas but could only dream of shooting like him.

“I used to shoot it from behind my head,” Jeremiah said. “It looked weird, but I could make it.”

That wasn’t good enough for Wright. When Jeremiah was between the eighth and ninth grades, Wright started working him under the basket, shoving the ball over the rim with one hand, to teach him the proper way to shoot.

“It felt uncomfortable at first,” Jeremiah said. “I wanted to go back to shooting the old way just so I could make a few.”

As the sessions continued, Jeremiah also worked harder on his own. He would lie on the floor with a basketball and shoot imaginary shots into the air. He would get his dad out on the court to rebound more than 300 shots daily.

David Jeremiah Sr., who scored more than 1,000 points during his career at Cedarville College in Ohio, is the pastor at Scott Memorial Baptist Church, of which Christian High is an extension. “He always has the keys to the gym,” his son said.

Jeremiah continued to take 300 shots once and sometimes twice a day, and attended three basketball camps that emphasized shooting last summer. One of those camps gave him his current goal: “Never be satisfied with making a shot if it hits the rim.”

That love he developed for Indiana basketball has paid off indirectly as well. Jeremiah watched the Hoosiers play every time they were on television. He began to pay special attention to guard Alford. And that added yet another dimension to his game.

“He moves so well without the ball,” Jeremiah said. “I learned that most guys will stay with you for the first couple of passes, but after that, he is going to sag into the middle. That’s when I can pop out and hit the open three. I’m not as good as Alford, but I’d like to think I’m the same type of player.”