Since standout Salina South days, Junghans' free-throw percentage only getting better
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa - Former Salina South basketball standout Devon Junghans is a huge disciple of the reverse psychology method when it comes to free throw shooting.
“While I’m practicing free throws, I really try to envision that I'm in a high-pressure situation. To try and make it as game-like as possible,” Junghans, who just completed his sophomore year at Iowa Western Community College, said. “Then on the other hand while I’m in the game, I try to envision that I’m back at home in the same YMCA I grew up in practicing free throws. With the combination of all of that, I think it was all major factors I could shoot so well this year from the line.”
Junghans sank a zesty 52-of-57 free throws (91.2%) this past season for the Reivers. At South, he swished 81% of his freebies.
The 5-foot-10 marksman was money from three-ball territory as well as connecting on 51% from long range.
“My man Devon is the epitome of a gym rat,” teammate Jadon Cool said. “I mean he is always getting up shots and working on his craft. He’s always trying to get some work in and I think that just shows his dedication to getting better.”
“In season I try my best to not look at my stats,” Junghans said. “So I really had no idea I was at that percentage. Until one day we were in the weight room, and my teammate Donavan Seamster said ‘Dev, you know you're shooting 46% from three right now?’ (That was my percent at that time) And I was like ‘Dang, nah I had no idea.’
“Then after that I had an idea I was sitting at a good percentage but I tried not to think about it too much though. But once the season finished I got to reflect a bit. It was a pretty dope feeling that I was shooting an elite percentile. And happy that my hard work was showing as far as the shooting side of things.”
“He’s one of the hardest working players I’ve played with,” South teammate Josh Jordan said. “If there was anybody that was going to be in the gym outside of practice he would be there.”
In 29 games this year, 14 he started, he ripped the cords 31 times in 61 attempts from 3. He shot over 47% from all field goals attempted. This after shooting 42% from 3 his senior year at South.
He achieved his greatness the old-fashioned way.
“Just a lot of hard work,” Junghans said. “But to be more in-depth, over the past three years I've been pretty consistent on making it a priority to get a lot of game-like shots and not only just shooting them, but making them. I'm not a person that makes 1,000 shots a day or anything like that. But with me juggling school, practice and other responsibilities I try to make my workouts as efficient as possible.”
Junghans added he puts an emphasis on efficiency when he gets into his shooting workouts.
“I use a machine called the ‘gun’ a lot. Especially me being a person who pretty much only gets in the gym by myself,” he said. “It's been my best friend for the past couple years. But as far as actually being in the game. I've been really big on being efficient. Especially when I am surrounded by other talented scorers. And just making it a priority of taking the best possible shot that I know I can make has definitely helped me shoot that percentage that I did this year.”
His road to Iowa began in southeast Kansas after his 2021 graduation from South.
“By the time I was a senior my two options were Allen County or Coffeyville. I ultimately chose Coffeyville,” Junghans said. “But at the time, Andy Shaw who is now here at Iowa Western, was the coach there. And was actually the first coach to ever have me on a visit. So I've known Coach Shaw for a while now. So when it was time to seek other options, coach Shaw took the Iowa Western job. And thankfully offered me a scholarship to play for him. And in which I of course accepted.”
His maturity level has skyrocketed since he left Salina for the greener pastures of college basketball.
“Me being a good distance away from family and long-time friends has really made me become the person I am today,” Junghans said. “Whether that's building communication and relationship skills or figuring out how to navigate through life kind of by yourself.
“And I for sure look at the game of basketball differently as well. Basketball is and always will be a huge part of my life. It’s led me to meet amazing people and experience places I never thought I would see. But In high school, I really relied on basketball for my happiness or sense of achievement. Which ultimately isn’t a good thing because then if I were to be playing bad or having a bad stretch of games, it would be like a snowball effect. But now a couple years later I've learned that basketball is something that I do, not something that I am. And having this perspective really changed a lot of stuff for the better.”
Which bodes well as he maps out his future at a four-year school.
“I've gotten a decent amount of looks so far,” the 3.8 GPA major in Exercise Science said. “Mainly schools in the Kansas/Nebraska/Iowa region. But my plans are to continue with basketball wherever that may be.”
“To describe his game I would say Devon is a crafty point guard who can make plays for himself and other guys,” Cool said. “He’s a pest on defense and probably our most reliable shooter from 3. Yeah, dude’s a sniper.”
“He is consistently in the gym working on his game,” teammate Akol Ngor said. “He is one of the best shooters in the nation due to his consistency in the gym. He is a floor general, and can score by himself as well.”
“As long as I’ve known him and played with him, he’s always shot the ball at a high level,” Jordan said.
To all the Devon 2.0 kids who aim to scorch the nets themselves at some point, Junghans has this message just for you.
“My message to them would be to roll with the punches. Especially with this basketball stuff,” he said. “No matter how good you are, you're always going to run into some adversity. It’s up to you if you get past that adversity or not.”
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Former Salina South ace's free-throw percent even higher in college
