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'How did that get through?' Marquette teammates dish about Tyler Kolek's practice passes
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- 'How did that get through?' Marquette teammates dish about Tyler Kolek's practice passes
INDIANAPOLIS – You could put together a pretty lengthy highlight reel of Tyler Kolek's passes over his three seasons with the Marquette men's basketball team.
He's tried some pretty outlandish dimes in games, like dropping a between-the-legs pass to Kam Jones for a three-point attempt or blindly whipping the ball around two defenders to a cutting Stevie Mitchell .
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But for Kolek, the real experimentation comes in his lab at the Al McGuire Center in practices and pickup games. His Golden Eagles teammates take particular glee in recounting audacious assists that have taken place behind closed doors.
"You're serious, but it doesn't matter if you throw a behind-the-back pass out of bounds in practice," Kolek said. "In a game, you can't do that."
Kolek is ready to take the court again after missing six games with an oblique injury. Ahead of MU's NCAA Tournament opener against Western Kentucky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday , coaches and players were asked for their favorite stories about Kolek's wizardry.
Tyler Kolek is know for experimenting with crazy passes during Marquette basketball practices.
David Joplin, junior forward
"I remember one. He like came down on the left side. Kind of toward the middle. It was just a random, messed-up play. Somehow I floated to the corner. And he, like, spinned around and threw it behind his head. But I missed it. That's probably the craziest one. He does throw way more crazier passes in practice, for sure. But he's not afraid to pull them out in a game."
Sean Jones, sophomore guard
"I like the behind-the-back passes he throws out of nowhere. My favorite Tyler Kolek practice pass is last year, about September or November, he threw the ball over everybody to me. Caught it. Dunked it. Caught me right in stride like I was playing wide receiver."
DeAndre Haynes, assistant coach
"There's a whole bunch of them. I forgot the move, but the ball actually curved this one time. I'm for real. I've seen some crazy stuff. He's thrown a lot of crazy passes. He actually did one (Wednesday in practice) that was pretty nice. He drove baseline, he just does some behind-the-back, behind-the-head type things that find a way to get through. It never surprises me. It's just like, ooh, how did that get through? Him and Oso (Ighodaro), both. Creativity. So creative with it. Play with that good feel, knows where everybody is supposed to be on the court and then the ball just magically ends up in your hands."
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Oso Ighodaro, senior big man
"He's tried to throw some behind-the-head passes that haven't connected. He just tries some stuff. I think some of the turnovers are crazier than the ones that go through. He's definitely tries some stuff practice."
Kam Jones, junior guard
"In practice, he'll throw like a pass from behind his head from halfcourt without looking to a cutter from the three-point line. And they'll catch it and dunk it. He's made some really crazy passes that you wouldn't even think someone would make.
"Just playing him, you kind of know his reads. You can kind of tell. Like I can tell when he's looking at me and he's not going to throw it. Like he's looking at me to throw a no-look. I can tell when he's about to give it to me. I can tell pretty much everything he likes to do. Sometimes in practice I'll see a read and I'll be, like, he could go there, and then he'll find a way to get it there. He's definitely nice and great at what he does, for sure."
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Tre Norman, freshman guard
"He'll get in the lane. And somebody will be at the top of the key and he'll just throw it behind his head and somebody will be there. He makes a lot of crazy passes every practice, but I'd say the behind-the-head, no-look pass is the best one I've seen."
Stevie Mitchell, junior guard
"The first one that comes to my mind is Ben Gold, he was cutting and going to the corner. And TK, I don't know exactly how he got there, but he was going down the side so they were kind of crossing each other. I think he actually might have cut, so TK was cutting this way and Ben was cutting back out to the corner. And somebody passed it to TK and then he threw it in between his legs to Ben. And Ben ran to the corner and hit the three."
Ben Gold, sophomore center
"We kind of stopped the drill there and everyone kind of went crazy. I made the shot, it was a lot of pressure. I was shooting, I was, like, 'I have to make it.' There's a lot of memories I've had of him on and off the court, just laughing about really anything. We relate a lot. He's a really fun person to be around on the court. Especially when you build that chemistry with him off the court, I feel like everyone here has a really good relationship with him, so it helps on the court. Where he can find you. You just have that chemistry. I've had a lot of fun with him."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette basketball players talk about Tyler Kolek's highlight passes
