Justus, England, Hann: Kings of free throw line

Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess

Former UT basketball player Bill Justus observes the Tennessee men's basketball game against University of Tennessee-Martin game, while giving commentary for television at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Bill Justus, Tennessee basketball player 1965-69. Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame inductee 2005.

In the late 1960s, you didn’t want to send Tennessee to the free-throw line, especially not guards Bill Justus, Jimmy England or Bill Hann.

Justus set a school single-game record by hitting 22 of 23 free throws in an NIT win over Ohio University at Madison Square Garden on March 17, 1969. The former Fulton High School star made 18 in a row, another school record, before he missed No. 19 in that game.

It was no fluke. Justus led the nation in 1968-69, hitting 90.5 percent of his attempts (133 of 147). Justus, who played from 1966-69, ranks No. 2 as Tennessee’s most accurate career free-throw shooter at 84.9 percent.

The only man ahead of him is England, who played from 1968-71 and hit 88.1 percent, which ranks third all-time in SEC history. England shares a school accuracy record for hitting 14 of 14 tries in a 1971 game.

Hann, another dead-eye guard from that era, ranks No. 8 all-time at 80.4 percent.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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