Steph Curry has nothing on Clayton free throw champion
CLAYTON, CA (Jan. 21, 2022) — Among the many shooting accomplishments of Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry is his historically excellent free throw shooting. However, the three-time NBA World Champion has nothing on Clayton 11-year-old Jackson Ramirez who made 50 out of 50 attempts to win the most recent Elks Hoop Shoot National Championship.
And young Jackson is back at it this Saturday in Modesto when he takes the second step as he attempts to win another national title in the district competition. The Elks Club has been sponsoring the National Hoop Shoot for 50 years for boys and girls ages 8-13. The 50th anniversary is being celebrated this year.
Ramirez, a sixth grader at Diablo View Middle School, passed his first test in the 2021-22 Hoop Shoot competition last month when we won the first round sponsored by the Walnut Creek Elks by making a paltry—by his standards—22 of 25 shots.
Curry is currently ranked as the greatest free throw shooter in National Basketball Association history with a percentage of nearly 91 per cent. Number four on the all-time list is another former local Warrior great Rick Barry, whose four oldest sons—Brent, Jon, Scooter and Drew—all played high school basketball for De La Salle. Barry, of course, was known for his underhand shooting style from the charity stripe.
Ramirez last entered the 2019-20 Hoop Shoot that was interrupted in March 2020 at the National finals level by the COVID-19 outbreak. It was not until last year that a virtual national final was held. Jackson Ramirez did his shooting at Elevate Basketball Performance Training center in Concord last April 1. There were two Elks Lodge members there monitoring the shooting including Elks State free throw director Mike Rittenhouse.
The Clayton boy canned all 25 free throws, but so did one other finalist. That necessitated all 12 finalists attempting another 25 free throws. This time the Clayton sharpshooter was again perfect while the next closest finalist missed once!
Due to the pandemic, there was no competition in 2021.
To defend his title Ramirez will first have to win Saturday’s competition in Modesto, where the state finals will also be held. Scores from that competition will be compared to Southern California and Hawaii. The top scores move on to Las Vegas for the Region 7 finals and that winner goes on to the National finals.
To hone his shooting from the charity stripe, his dad Stephen Ramirez says his son, “Shoots 300 free throws a day and two weeks before the competition we up it to 500 a day and the week of the competition he shoots 700 free throws. For Nationals last year he shot 700-800 a day for the whole month of March. We usually practice at our home court. He usually shoots 200 before school and we shoot the rest after school.”
The younger Ramirez plays for St. Bonaventure CYO and the Norcal travel ball team. His dad is no stranger to basketball having played for Christian Center High School in Pittsburg and Los Medanos College.
One more thing Jackson Ramirez has on Steph Curry: he will be in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame before the Warrior great. The Basketball Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts has a new exhibit honoring the six Elks Hoop Shoot national champions each year with their name and photo alongside all the great women and men around the world of basketball. The Ramirez’s will visit the Hall this spring.
[Updated Jan. 23]
And young Jackson will be back at it Feb. 5 in Modesto when he takes the third step as he attempts to win another national title in the state competition. The Elks Club has been sponsoring the National Hoop Shoot for 50 years for boys and girls ages 8-13. The 50th anniversary is being celebrated this year.
Ramirez, a sixth grader at Diablo View Middle School, has passed his first two tests in the 2021-22 Hoop Shoot competition. He won the first round sponsored by the Walnut Creek Elks by making a paltry—by his standards—22 of 25 shots. Then on Saturday he won the district championship in Modesto after little bit of drama. He missed his first two shots before canning 22 of the final 23 free throws to once again post a winning score of 22 out of 25.
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.