Skip to main content
Purdue
Join Now

Fletcher Loyer, Luke Ertel represent Purdue at Final Four-week three-point shootout at Butler

On3 imageby: Brian Neubert04/04/26brianneubert

INDIANAPOLIS — The key to acing a three-point shooting contest like the one Luke Ertel won Friday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse: “Rush, but don’t hurry.”

The future Purdue guard saw it first-hand right away from now-former Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer, whose 24-point circuit was the highest single-round score among either college or high school players at the annual Final Four-week State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships event at Butler.

Loyer ultimately didn’t win the event, as his 18-point turn in Round 2 opened the door for DePaul’s CJ Gunn and Texas Tech’s Donovan Atwell to reach the final. Gunn, the former Indiana guard and Loyer’s ex-AAU teammate, edged Atwell to win the event.

Nevertheless, Purdue’s all-time three-point king gave the robust crowd in Hinkle a thrill with that first round, during which he was 5-for-5 on two-point “money” balls, which were different basketballs.

Loyer doesn’t believe there’s any real science to three-point shooting competitions.

“Really, it’s just a lot of work in a lot of environments beforehand,” he said afterward. “It’s about staying calm while doing it.”

Luke Ertel and Fletcher Loyer

Ertel did, besting two other Indianapolis area shooters in the high school competition, which served to basically eat up commercial time during the ESPN+ broadcast between the college players’ dunk contests and three-point shootouts.

One challenge for Ertel: He’s left-handed.

“The first time I shot, I was under the basket on the rack, so I had to move it the second time,” said Ertel, who scored 15 in his first round, then 21 in his second. “Also, I think scores were a little lower because guys were a little nervous. Except (Loyer).

“Fletcher is so calm when he’s shooting. He also gets them up in a timely manner. I think I figured that out my second time — watching him go — and then I was able to score a lot.”

For both Boilermakers past and present Friday night, they were a draw. Loyer drew long lines of autograph- and selfie-seekers, to the point he basically was extracted from the gym at the end of the night.

For Ertel, it wasn’t quite the same, obviously, but since he led Mount Vernon to the Class 4A title a few weeks back, his recognition quotient has spiked.

“After sectionals and regionals of the state tournament, there were a lot of people wanting autographs and pictures,” said Ertel, likely to be Indiana Mr. Basketball. “It was a little overwhelming.”

You may also like