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Fixing His Shot

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By CRISTINA LEDRA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 7, 2007

HUDSON - Austin Gibbons didn't really have anywhere to go but up in terms of basketball going into his senior year.

The Hudson guard has had a short-yet-turbulent basketball career but has finally started to see the fruits of his persistence this season as one of the top outside shooters in Pasco County with 15 3-point field goals. He hopes to get even better.

Gibbons, 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, had only been playing basketball for a couple of years after his uncle Lance Huggett, who comes to his games from Clearwater, took him outside one day and taught him how to play.

He didn't make the cut at East Lake his freshman and sophomore seasons because he wasn't good enough one year and because of grades the other.

His shot was off, and he hit a new low on the court when he was dunked on repeatedly in one game against intimidating competition when the Cobras played as an AAU team in the offseason.

"I think after that game he just said to himself, 'I'm still standing here,' and from then on we've seen a lot of growth from him," Hudson coach Jason Vetter said.

The biggest change has been in Gibbons' shot, because it was the most glaring thing that he needed to fix.
Vetter said most players come into high school not really knowing how to shoot. Gibbons was no exception, having not played competitively before arriving at Hudson as a junior.

"Vetter changed my shot a lot over the summer. I used to shoot from back here," Gibbons said, tipping his hands behind his head. "Now he changed it, and I shoot from the front."
Gibbons started to get the hang of it toward the end of the summer after he was able to use the new technique in game situations.

"My strength was always outside," Gibbons said. "The form wasn't there, but it was the best thing I did, so I just worked on it."

And he hasn't stopped working on his shot, which his teammates have noticed, even if his opponents haven't necessarily done so yet.

Part of the reason Gibbons gets so many good looks at the basket is because everyone is keying on junior guard Jarrod Branco. And rightfully so, with Branco averaging 22.7 points a game.

"He's been working hard," senior guard Nate Engelhardt said. "He stays after practice, and I stay with him and I just feed him passes just so he can get the repetition in. And the hard work is paying off.

"Jarrod is Jarrod, but Gibbons is another asset to the team."
Gibbons is shooting 34 percent from behind the arc after a tough game against Nature Coast on Friday, when he was 1-for-8. He would like to improve his shooting, and he would also like to expand his game to be more than just a threat on the perimeter.

"I want to do other stuff besides shooting, because when they come out on you, you've got to have other stuff because they guard you tight," Gibbons said. "You have to change it up and drive to the lane."

Since coming to Hudson, Gibbons has gotten his grades in order and become another viable option in the Cobras' offense, and that has made his development more meaningful.

"He may not play in college or anything, but he's grown a lot, not only as player but as a person," Vetter said. "And I think he's set himself up to be successful in life."

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