March Madness is officially underway, which means that the greater public is now fully aware of Wofford center Kyler Filewich. It is not aware his unusual form while shooting a free throw. The 6-foot-9 big man recently switched to granny-style in an attempt to fix what I can only assume is a case of the yips.
However, we did not get to see his technique during March Madness.
Filewich, a fifth-year senior, began his college basketball career at Southern Illinois. He later transferred to Wofford and finally reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his career this year. The Terriers finished third in the Southern Conference during the regular season. They beat ETSU, VMI and Furman to win the SoCon Tournament and a bid to March Madness as the No. 6 seed.
Kyle Filewich.
— Drea Blackwell (@KSBWDrea) March 20, 2025
Wofford.
THIS. IS. MARCH. pic.twitter.com/3hMX3UcHZU
Wofford’s impressive run over the last 12 days would not be possible without Filewich. The 6-foot-9, 250-pound center was named as the Most Outstanding Player of the conference tournament despite his struggles from the free throw line. His form is so hideous that his opponent actively mocked him during the game while losing by 15 points during the second half. It’s that bad!
— – (@Spicoli_____) March 10, 2025
Although Kyler Filewich built something of a cult following over the last few weeks, he made his debut on the national stage against Tennessee on Thursday evening. The college basketball casuals still did not get to witness his herky-jerky free throw form. He did not attempt a single free throw against Tennessee!
I have yet to figure out exactly why the Terriers’ best player is so bad at underhand free throws. Rick Barnes, the 70-year-old head coach of the Volunteers, took him to school with the granny-style shooting at practice earlier in the week. He went 6-for-10 from the charity stripe.
Filewich struggles to replicate that same success but sometimes it goes in!
Shout out to Wofford’s Kyler Filewich for bringing the granny shot back on the biggest stage
byu/BLeibo inCollegeBasketball
Kyler Filewich actually shot normal, overhand free throws during the first four+ years of his career. His free throw shooting percentage was never great but it took a steep decline upon arrival to Wofford.
- Freshman at SIU: 46%
- Sophomore at SIU: 50%
- Junior at Wofford: 40.7%
- Senior at Wofford: 31.6%
- Fifth-year at Wofford: 31.8%
Assistant coach Tysor Anderson suggested a different approach at the beginning of February— granny-style. Rick Barry actually flew to Spartanburg to teach Filewich the art of the underhand free throw. Unfortunately, his spastic motion is still largely ineffective.
- vs. Chattanooga — 0/2
- @ Merceer — 1/2
- @ Citadel — 4/6
- vs. Samford — 6/10 (like Barnes!)
- @ VMI — 0/3
- vs. ETSU — 1/4
- @ Western Carolina — 1/2
- vs. Furman — 0/3
- vs. ETSU — 1/5
- vs. VMI — 1/5
- vs. Furman — 3/7
- vs. Tennessee — 0/0 (sad)
Filewich is unable to figure it out. No matter what he tries or how hard he tries, he cannot get the ball to go in the hoop. The Terriers asked him to go underhand. It didn’t work. There is no hope.
Even though Kyler Filewich is an unstoppable force in the paint, he cannot make a free throw. Even with the help of a legend. Wild stuff.