Master of the Charity Stripe

SARASOTA — A single piece of worn black masking tape on the floor of the Colonial Oaks gymnasium is all that lies between Ronn Wyckoff and his pursuit of perfection. 

With his sneaker-clad toes hovering slightly behind the charity stripe, the Sarasota resident squares his body, bends his knees and with a gentle flick of the wrist sends the basketball off of his right fingertips and up toward the backboard. 

Wyckoff will repeat the process nearly 200 more times in an attempt to best his 98% average. 

Wyckoff can’t afford to make a mistake. The competition is too great. 

“Senior shooters are the best shooters in the world,” said Wyckoff, who celebrated his 73rd birthday Dec. 16. “We’ve studied the dynamics and physics involved in good shooting.” 

Four days earlier, Wyckoff won a pair of gold medals in free-throw shooting and spot field-goal shooting in the 70- to 74-year-old age group at the Florida Senior Games, in Clearwater. 

Wyckoff hit 30 of 30 free throws to become only the fourth competitor in Florida Senior Games history to post a perfect score. After a brief warmup, Wyckoff knocked down 10 straight free throws before taking a short break and repeating the shot process two more times. 

He then earned the highest score in the spot field goal shooting competition, or hot shot, which included three attempts at five shots at various points around the court. Wyckoff finished with 14 of a possible 15 points. 

“I knew I was on. It was just a matter of holding it together in the competition,” said Wyckoff, who only missed three shots during his hourlong warm-up prior to the competition. “This was my birthday present to myself.” 

This past weekend’s competition marked Wyckoff’s third straight appearance in the Florida Senior Games but his first finishing as a double gold medalist. 

With his two gold medals, Wyckoff now has 18 gold medals — more than his silver and bronze medals combined. 

“I’m ahead of the game,” Wyckoff said. “The ball is going in the basket and doing what it’s supposed to do.

FINDING HIS SHOT

Wyckoff attempted his first organized shot when he was 11. He was a master of the game of one-on-one, but when it came to organized basketball, he couldn’t get past trying to do what he wanted on the court. 

Wyckoff stopped playing basketball after high school to run track at Fresno State, where he tied the world record for the 50-yard dash at 5.1 seconds. 

He didn’t pick the sport up again until roughly six years later when he began teaching and joined his faculty’s AAU team, which averaged more than 90 points per game in its second season. 

In his 15-year playing career, Wyckoff averaged 22 points per game, before the advent of the 3-point line, and spent three years playing in Sweden. 

At the conclusion of his playing career, Wyckoff began coaching and has since coached at every level from youth basketball to the national team level. 

In 2005, Wyckoff worked with the Cardinal Mooney girls basketball team and also worked with former Lakewood Ranch High center Kristen Fulmer, now the girls basketball coach at Braden River. 

"Ron focused on the little things with my shot," Fulmer said. "While my high school coaches had team principles to teach, Ron focused on fine tuning my form and teaching the fundamentals." 

In two years at Cardinal Mooney, Wyckoff helped produce the area’s player of the year and it’s runner-up in Samantha Moore and Leslie Conetta. 

“It’s a good feeling to know you had a part in teaching them something that will stay with them for the rest of their lives,” Wyckoff said. “I always tell people ‘Do what you love.’ I love to play the game of basketball.” 

In 2009, Wyckoff helped found the National Basketball Shooter’s Association — an organization established by a group of free throw masters and world record holders to help raise awareness about the importance of shooting a basketball, particularly from the free throw line. 

He’s also published a book, “Basketball On A Triangle: A Higher Level of Coaching and Playing” and a teaching DVD. 

CHARITY STRIPE MASTER 

Wyckoff competed in his first senior games in 2010 and has won titles in five states. He started competing in the Florida Senior Games three years ago after moving back to the Sunshine State from Oregon. 

That year, Wyckoff finished third in the world free throw championships after hitting 98 of 100 attempts. 

A month after his first Florida Senior Games appearance Jan. 14, 2014, Wyckoff had his hip replaced, but that didn’t keep Wyckoff from competing in the Sarasota qualifier the following month. With stitches in his hip and a cane at his feet, Wyckoff won the free throw competition and finished third in the hot shot. 

Wyckoff planned to compete in Clearwater the next month, but a car accident on the way up kept him from competing in the qualifier. 

He practiced for the duration of the year and didn’t compete again until last year’s Florida Senior Games. 

A few weeks later, on New Year’s Eve, Wyckoff suffered a heart attack and had to have three stents inserted. 

Wyckoff hasn't let those challenges stop him. He shoots roughly 1000 free throws a week at Colonial Oaks or LA Fitness and has developed into a nearly 99% free throw shooter. 

Wyckoff plans to compete in February’s Sarasota qualifier and hopefully in other qualifiers throughout the year across the state. 

 “We’re all good enough to beat the other one,” Wyckoff said. “You can’t afford to miss against these guys. The 70 to 74-year-old age group is one of the toughest age groups, and I can’t ever get rid of them because we all age together.” 

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].