Brett Blizzard is the senior shooting guard on the UNC Wilmington men’s basketball team.

He is a three-time member of the Colonial Athletic Association all-conference team and the reining MVP. He is the all-time leader for three-pointers at UNCW and in the CAA. He was the recipient of the Edward S. Steitz Award as the nation’s top three-point shooter by the Basketball Hall of Fame his freshman year.

The Tallahassee, Fla., native also leads the conference in scoring for this season. Recently, Blizzard surpassed Brian Rowsom (1983-87) as the all-time scorer at UNCW. He passed 2,000 points Monday against William & Mary.

Blizzard took time out of his schedule to tell the rest of us how he does it.

I wanted to play. I’ve never been the biggest guy on the court so outside shots gave me a chance to play at a young age.

As a kid, I wanted to get in the game. Now, I play for one of the best colleges in the country. I play with the best teammates in the land. I am getting an incredible education for free. After I graduate, I will probably be able to earn a living for a while by taking jump shots. All because I can shoot a basketball well.

Shooting the ball well isn’t some freak natural ability, though. I think you get back exactly what you put into it. It’s not just basketball. Any time you work hard at something you are going to be rewarded for it.

I have practiced almost every day since I was 11 years old. My dad built a miniature court with some leftover concrete he had out back at my house. It was just big enough to put the three-point line in the corners. I’d be out there all day just trying to make it from those two spots.

I didn’t have enough kids around the neighborhood to play pick-up games with, so I just shot balls using something my dad taught me called the 10-out-of-13 drill. That’s where you have to hit 10 of 13 shots before you can move to the next spot. It was more like a game to me – kind of like my own version of solitaire.

The drill put pressure on me to become better because I couldn’t do anything else until I completed the task. It’s not like trying to make 10 or 20 from each spot. When I got to like nine out of 11, I had to hit the last two shots. That gave me the repetition I needed to become a better shooter.

My dad helped develop my shot. I used to do the “wind-up” shot where you shoot starting at your waist. He taught me how to shoot with my knees.

Shooting has nothing to do with arm strength. The power comes from the legs. The farther you back up to take a shot, the more you should bend your knees.

The two other things I focus on are having my elbows in and a great follow-through. If your elbows are not straight, the ball won’t travel straight. With the follow-through, I line up where the ball should go with my index finger. I put my finger in the middle of the ball and aim for the basket.

Another important point is getting the ball up as quick as possible. A good shooter must get the ball up quickly from the torso to the head. Some people try to rush the entire shooting process. The first part is only part to be quick with. The release should be smooth.

Pete Maravich also played a role in developing my shot. I used to idolize him when I was younger. I’ve seen the movie Pistol hundreds of times and memorized every line.

I feel like I’m not mentally ready for the upcoming game if I don’t do my shooting routine. I shoot two days in advance and not much the day before the game. It helps me feel confident come game time.

I feel like I can make every shot on game days. The only way I can miss is if I’m off-balance or the ball slips out of my hands. It’s nothing to do with my stroke or anything like that.

I’ve shot so many from each spot that I know how hard to shoot it. I just need to see where I am on the court.

It doesn’t matter if there’s a hand in my face. Actually, I like it. When someone is in your face, you don’t have time to react. You just shoot it without thinking.

The gymnasium I am playing in can make a difference as to how I shoot. Some gyms are so deep behind the basket; it can be tough to judge the depth.

One of the hardest things I have overcome in college is getting open. At first, when I would get open off a screen, I would be too relaxed and think about being open and not the shot.

Now I have more confidence in my game. I know that the shots will eventually go in even if I miss one. That allows me to concentrate on other areas of my game, like being a leader on the team.

I would score less than 10 points a game if it were not for my teammates. Everything has to work at the same time. The passer has to read the defense to know when to feed me the ball. The screener has to know exactly when and where to set a pick for me to get open. I have to time it up to know when the passer is ready to pass. It all happens in a split-second even though there is so much that goes into it.

That’s what makes our team a good team.

It’s all about routine. I even eat the same meals before games. Steak and eggs for day games, chicken parmesan for nights.

I shoot before people come into the arena just to get my shot down. But that’s it. I warm up and then wait to peak in the game. Some guys do too much running around before the game, peak early and tire out early in the second half.

I try to stay comfortable. If you feel good, you play good. I wear shoes that fit my feet well, and I wear ankle braces to avoid twisting one of them.

The keys to good shooting are lots of practice, staying in a routine and being comfortable on the court. Every point I make is an ancestor of my time, energy and focus since I was a child trying to earn a spot on the court. I want to play.