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This much we know: Gabe York is undoubtedly the best three-point shooter in the Sean Miller era.
His 197 career three-pointers in the last four years, most of them made coming off the bench before his senior season this year, rank above Nick Johnson’s 144 in three seasons and Solomon Hill’s 115 in his four-year career.
Kyle Fogg comes closest with 193 in his career, but he was a recruit from the Lute Olson era, and played only his last three seasons under Miller. Fogg had 170 three-pointers under Miller, including 72 as a senior in 2011-12.
York rivals the best to play for Olson. We’ll never know how he would stack up against Fred Snowden’s elite long-range shooters like Coniel Norman and Herman Harris because the three-point line was not instituted until the 1986-87 season.
That happened to be the season Steve Kerr missed because of a knee injury. In Kerr’s senior season the following year, he made 114 three-pointers, which stood as an Arizona record until Salim Stoudamire made 120 in his senior year of 2004-05.
York is in the conversation of being one of Arizona’s best three-point shooters, but any player will be hard-pressed to match the feats of Kerr and of Stoudamire, who holds what seems to be an unassailable mark of 342 career three-pointers.
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THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS CAREER
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THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS SEASON
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With three more three-pointers, York will become only the fourth Arizona player to reach 200 career shots made from beyond the arc. Jason Gardner with 318 and Damon Stoudamire at 272 are the others.
What sets York apart is he was not a career starter like Salim and Damon Stoudamire and Gardner. He was mostly a reserve until this season.
Salim Stoudamire attempted 747 three-pointers in his career. York is at only 490 attempts with seven regular-season games remaining in his career. Gardner had 875 attempts from beyond the arc while Damon Stoudamire had 677.
Calculating his made three-pointers in relation to his attempts (40.2 percent), if York had as many attempts as Salim Stoudamire, he would finish with approximately 300 three-pointers, still 42 shy of the record-holder.
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If York finished with as many attempts as Gardner, he would have about 352 three-pointers, eclipsing Salim Stoudamire’s mark.
Salim Stoudamire made an incredible 45.8 percent of his career three-point attempts. Gardner was at 36.3 percent and Damon Stoudamire was roughly at the same percentage as York at 40.2.
Gabe York #Arizona drops 14pts in the Win over WashingtonState on the Road @GabeYork01 having a Breakout SR campaign pic.twitter.com/nCOS83J1zE
— Compton Magic (@Compton_Magic) February 4, 2016
At York’s current rate of 6.4 three-pointers attempted a game this season, he is on pace to try 199 by the end of the regular season. That would put him at about 535 attempts with approximately 215 made before the postseason.
It’s a safe bet York will finish as the No. 4 three-point shooter in terms of three-pointers made, but he should be regarded with both Stoudamires and Kerr as the top three to four pure shooters from beyond the arc.
Gardner’s 318 career three-pointers are by virtue of his immense playing time during his Iron Man career. His 875 attempts are a substantial amount. York is on par with Damon Stoudamire, which is a notch below Salim Stoudamire and Kerr.
For the sake of argument, if Kerr had similar numbers throughout his career with what he produced as a senior, he would have 454 career three-pointers in 796 attempts, an unreal 57.3 percent.
So in terms of the most accurate and productive three-point shooters in Arizona history, my ranking goes as follows:
1. Steve Kerr
2. Salim Stoudamire
3 (tie). Gabe York and Damon Stoudamire
The next player? Believe it or not: Chase Budinger. He made 190 three-pointers in only three seasons. At that rate, if he played his senior year, instead of leaving to the NBA, he would have finished with approximately 253 made three-pointers.
In terms of three-pointers made in a season, York is on pace for 85 by the end of the regular season, which would put him tied at sixth with Khalid Reeves in 1993-94. He has a good chance of joining the Stoudamires, Kerr and Gardner as the only players to reach 100 three-pointers made in a season.
Enjoy York while you can. The span from Kerr to Damon Stoudamire to Gardner to Salim Stoudamire to York equates to about one standout three-point shooter at Arizona every six years.
ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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