No. 9 in The Untouchables: Darnell Archey’s free throw streak
The Untouchables is a 10-part series spotlighting college basketball's most unbreakable records. Up next is No. 9: Butler guard Darnell Archey's consecutive free throw streak.
The summer before his junior year of high school, a friend invited Darnell Archey to join him and his family on a trip to the Bahamas.
To the shock of even his own parents, Archey chose not to accept.
"I said, 'Darnell, you need to go,' but he told me he didn't want to because there wasn't a basketball court there," Archey's father Dennis recalled. "That's how focused he was. He refused to even go on vacation."
Choosing jump shots at the gym over relaxing at the beach is an example of the dedication that eventually helped Archey shoot his way into the record books in college. The Butler guard sank a Division I record 85 consecutive free throws from Feb. 15, 2001 to Jan. 18, 2003, eclipsing the former mark of 73 set by Villanova's Gary Buchanan two seasons earlier.
No Division I player besides those two has ever hit more than 70 free throws in a row, but enough guys have cracked 50 recently that Archey believes his record will someday fall. Marquette's Steve Novak sank 68 straight foul shots in 2006 and NC State's Scott Wood (66) and Indiana's Jordan Hulls (58) each had long streaks last season.
"As they always say, records are meant to be broken," said Archey, now entering his fourth season as Butler's coordinator of basketball operations. "It may take awhile, but I think somebody will get it. With all the shooting devices and the amount of time these guys spend shooting, it's going to be broken eventually."
The player who someday surpasses the mark will have to be focused and dedicated from a young age if Archey's path to the record books is any indication. (more...)
