UCF center John Bol has the worst free throw form in college basketball. It is not AI slop.
The 7-foot-2 center hits only 62% of his attempts from the charity stripe, which is actually much higher than I would have thought.
There have been some bad free throw shooters in college basketball. Guys who just can’t do it. This might be the most bizarre. It begs the question of how he got to this point.
Who is John Bol?
John Bol hails from South Sudan. He moved to the United States as a refugee as a child and later returned to play high school basketball with Overtime Elite.
Despite his last name and place of birth, he does not have any familial ties to Manute Bol but John is almost as tall as Manute at 7-foot-2! The former four-star recruit was selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game in 2024 and initially committed to Ole Miss as one of the premier frontcourt defenders in his class.
Bol played in 17 games with the Rebels as a true freshman. He averaged only 1.1 points and 0.9 rebounds in 4.1 minutes per game. The long seven-footer was always going to be something a developmental project in college, it just didn’t quite work out in Oxford so he hit the transfer portal.
That led him to UCF.
Bol currently averaged 16.3 minutes per game through his first 13 games with the Knights, scoring 6.5 points with 4.8 rebounds thus far. It is already a much improved campaign.
Double-Double for Themus Fulks after this dish to John Bol. Currently has 22 points and 11 assists. pic.twitter.com/6UADwEjfib
— Andrew Cherico (@Andrew_Cherico) December 23, 2025
However, there is still a long way to go before he can be classified as a star instead of a phenom. Especially when it comes to the charity stripe.
There is not a more unusual free throw form in college basketball.
I watched almost ever Ole Miss basketball game last season. I do not remember John Bol’s form being as strange as it is. He did not play often and shot only 50% from the line so maybe I just missed it.
Nevertheless, here we are.
Bol played 22 minutes in an upset win over No. 17 Kansas on Saturday. He finished with six points and five rebounds. Two of those points were scored on free throws. He made two of his four attempts.
The true sophomore forward went viral on social media during his first attempt. Bol, who obviously has the yips when it comes to free throws, uses only his right hand to shoot and twists the ball back toward his body before his release. Check it out:
who taught john bol to shoot like this pic.twitter.com/AUUjvK988l
— Chip Williams (@chipwilliamsjr) January 3, 2026
Credit where credit is due. This must work better than whatever Bol used to do because he actually improved year-over-year in terms of make percentage. And, considering how ugly it is to watch him shoot a free throw, a season average of 66.7% is not that bad. I am curious to see whether his form will improve as the year continues with more practice or if the coaching staff already gave up and decided this is the best it’s going to get.