Once in a while it’s fun to peruse the ACC stats to see what oddities and anomalies turn up.
Take three-point shooting. Given the degree of difficulty, you would expect players to be better at converting
two point field goal attempts than threes. Yet there are eight league regulars who’ve been more accurate through mid-January from the bonusphere than on shots closer to the basket, layups included.
Most familiar of that group to Duke fans is Virginia Tech’s Jaden Schutt. In 2022-23, his sole season as a Blue Devil, the reputed marksman with unremarkable athleticism didn’t play all that much, appearing in 14 of 36 games for a total of 96 minutes.
Presaging his Hokie tenure, 20 of Schutt’s 28 field goal tries as a freshman were 3-pointers. He made 7 for .350 accuracy. The 6-5 Illinois product, a member of Jon Scheyer’s first recruiting class, posted an overall field goal percentage at Duke (.357) that was slightly higher than his .350 acuity from long range.
Now, in Schutt’s third season at Blacksburg, he’s emerged as something of a designated outside shooter, making more threes than twos.
Fans may have lost track of the guard for a bit, as he red-shirted for the ’24 season, then came back to start 26 of 32 games for a 2025 Hokie squad that lost more than it won (13-19). Averaging 26 minutes per outing, Schutt took 160 of his 215 shots from beyond the arc in ’25. His field goal accuracy was again marginally better than his 3-point accuracy (.367 versus .356).
This season Virginia Tech has already won one more game than all of last season. Schutt is fourth on the team in minutes played through Jan. 17, starting in 5 of 19 contests. A highlight came in early December against George Mason, when Schutt hit six 3-pointers in a dozen tries. On the year he’s fourth among the Hokies in minutes played (.500) and sixth in scoring (9.7).
So far 110 of Schutt’s 142 shots (.775 percent) have been threes. He made .435 from that distance through mid-January as Virginia Tech built a 14-5 record. His 3-point accuracy leads an otherwise middling long-distance shooting squad – 10th in the league in 3-point accuracy (.346) and 12th in made threes per game (8.26).
Note that Notre Dame’s Braeden Shrewsberry paced league players with .446 accuracy on threes as of Jan. 15 compared to .435 for Schutt, acuity for both declining after last weekend’s ACC outings.
Schutt stands eighth in the league in threes converted per outing (2.61).
| PREMIER PERIMETER PUNCHERS Higher 3-Point Accuracy Than Overall FG% Listed In Descending Order Of Playing Time (Minimum 200 Mins. Played Thru 1/20/26) |
||
|---|---|---|
| Player, School | 3% | 2% |
| Braeden Shrewsberry, ND | .427 | .417 |
| Jayden Schutt, VT | .427 | .417 |
| Martin Somerville, FS | .384 | .368 |
| Cole Certa, ND | .385 | .379 |
| Jeremy Dent-Smith, Stan. | .359 | .355 |
| Luka Toews, BC | .444 | .442 |
| Derek Dixon, NC | .396 | .373 |
| Aly Kalifa, UL | .444 | .444 |
