Now that the selection committed chose the best 34 teams to fill out the 65-squad bracket, we’ve got a set field of shooters to choose from. There’s no single, definitive guy out there who is widely regarded as the premiere shooter in college hoops. So we pulled the fifteen best shooters out of the Big Dance’s 65 teams in our NCAA Tournament primer.

Scottie Reynolds – Villanova is one of the best teams to watch in the country because of the way that Handsome Jay Wright has them moving the basketball. Reynolds is a big beneficiary of that quick movement so that he’s able to get his quick-release jumper off before defenders can close out on him. Louisville was able to keep Scottie to 2 points in the Big East semi’s, but American University won’t have the athletic defenders needed to hold him down again in round one.

Andy Rautins – Maybe the most dangerous shooter in the field of 65. Andy Buckets numbers don’t indicate that he’s the best in the country, but if he’s hot, he’s a defense’s nightmare. After being in and out of the lineup early in the season, Rautins hit his stride in the Big East tourney, sinking 22 treys in his last six games (3.7 three’s per game).

Jeremiah Dominguez – The Portland State Vikings’ 5-6 PG is the Darren Sproles of the NCAA Tournament. He’s dynamite with the ball in his hands – one of the most explosive players in the nation, but he might be an even better shooter. When the Vikings matched up against Gonzaga earlier this year, Dominguez went 7-10 from beyond three, scoring 25 points to orchestrate a huge upset.

Eric Maynor – The architect of the “Duke Dagger” 6-11 upset a year ago, Maynor re-tooled his game over the summer and made himself into one of the best shooters in the country. But he’s still more of a “scorer” than a “shooter” – Maynor’s game is a unique blend between solid mid-range jumpers and consistent three-point shooting.

Wayne Ellington – The only guy on this list who plays for a No. 1 seed, Ellington is a pure shooter at heart who has developed an all-around game to boot. But his inner marksman will come out at times, as it did against Maryland when Wayne shot 7-9 from beyond the arc for 34 points. If UNC is going to win it all, there will be a time when they need him to knock down clutch shots. Ellington’s biggest issue has been consistency. If he can get hot, the Tar Heels’ stock skyrockets.

Ryan Wittman – The son of former Indiana dead-eye shooter (and former T-Wolves coach) Randy Wittman is the only reason you’d think about picking Cornell to upset Missouri in their 3-14 match-up. Ryan Wittman hit at least one three in every game he played this year. But he didn’t just make shots against weak Ivy League schools. When the Big Red played Syracuse earlier this year, Wittman whapped nine treys on the Orange en route to 33 points.

Brad Redford – A 6-0 freshman who averaged 5.7 points per game is Xavier’s best kept secret. He won’t be on the floor for much more than 20 minutes per game (he’s only reached that plateau three times this year). But when he’s on the court, he can shoot from absolutely anywhere. Playing Dayton on March 5th, Redford stuck three treys, including one memorable 28-footer: he couldn’t dribble around his man so he gave the “F-this, I’ll pull from here.” Redford is hitting 47% of his three-point attempts.

Jerome Randle – Cal’s 5-10 PG is one of the most efficient scorers in the nation. He’s made 50% of his attempts from the field on the season, and 47% from three for 18.1 ppg. It’s almost as if it doesn’t matter how much Randle shoots, he’s consistently converting at that rate. When the Bears played Arizona a week and a half ago, he went for 31 points (8-11 3FG).

Jon Diebler – Coming into the season, some of us expected that freshman William Buford would be Ohio State’s best shooter. The rook has scored just as much as Diebler (both right around 11 ppg), but Jon is the more accurate shooter. He made five or more three’s in a single game on seven occasions, and hit 43% of his tries from three on the season. With 6-6 PG Evan Turner distributing the rock, watch out for Diebler and the Bucks.

Dionte Christmas – Bruce Pearl still has nightmares about Dionte’s 7 three’s and 35 points in the city of Brotherly Love earlier this year. Throughout his career, Christmas was always mentioned as one half of Temple’s dynamic duo alongside Mark Tyndale. But after Tyndale’s graduation last year, Dionte has come into his own. He’ll still take some knuckleheaded shots, but it’s tough to get on him if those falling-out-of-bounds 24-footers are going in.

Marcus Thornton – There’s always that one dude in the SEC who can flat-out shoot it. Last year it was Tennessee’s Chris Lofton. This year it’s LSU’s Thornton. The Tigers steamrolled through their conference for ten straight wins. During that stretch, Thornton averaged 24.8 points per game, sticking 25 three’s during that stretch.

Alex Ruoff – Ruoff has been inconsistent, with high high’s like a 38-point explosion in non-conference play. But he’s also had low low’s. He got shut out against Louisville on March 7th, and only put up 9 points against ‘Cuse in the Big East semi’s. I like Ruoff to turn it up in the early rounds, but struggle more against athletic defenders if WVU gets to the Sweet 16.

Ben Woodside – This North Dakota State senior makes his squad a real first-round upset threat against Kansas. Sherron Collins will have his hands full trying to stop this 22.8 ppg scorer, who had a 60-point game against Stephen F. Austin (30-35 FT) in 3OT earlier this year.

Jon Scheyer – We could have picked Kyle Singler or even Gerald Henderson as the Duke delegation to the shooters list. But Scheyer is the Blue Devils’ two-guard, and the guy that Duke needs to get going if they’re going to do more this year than they’ve done in recent memory. The good thing for Coach K is that Scheyer’s been hot as of late, hitting 24 three’s in his last seven games.

Chase Budinger – Another year in which the Wildcats sneak in the Dance allows Budinger to boost his draft stock on college basketball’s biggest stage. He’s coming off an abominable 1-9 (3FG) performance against Arizona State on Thursday. Now he’ll have a chance to leave a different impression in scouts’ minds.

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