Zocko Littleton competing in national free throw shooting contest

ALBANY — Eleven-year-old Zocko Littleton, Jr., a native of Albany, recently won the Elks Lodge Hoop Shoot Free Throw Shooting Southeast Regional competition in Valdosta.

Littleton, competed against contestants from South Carolina, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi in the age 10-11 division. Now, he is aiming higher as he will be competing in the national competition at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts on Saturday.

This is the third time in four years that Littleton has qualified for nationals. Last year, he made it to nationals and finished fourth, making 21 of 25 free throws. He qualified for this year’s national competition by winning the Southeast Regional competition by sinking 21 of 25 free throws and winning in a shoot-out.

“The shoot-outs are five shots with no warm-ups,” he said. “We went into three rounds and I had missed one on the last round. The other kid from Florida missed two on the last round.”

His goal at nationals this year is to hit all 25 free throw attempts.

“I do push-ups every night to get stronger so I can make them all and try to go 25 for 25,” he said.

According to the rules of the competition, each contestant competes in two rounds, shooting a combined 25 free throws. In the first round, they shoot 10 and are allowed five practice shots before beginning. In the second round, they shoot 15 with no practice allowed.

Littleton started competing in free-throw shooting competitions when he was eight years old. Back then, he made it to the Elks Lodge Hoop Shoot National Competition for the 8-9 boys division and finished in sixth-place.

To get to the Southeast Regional competition, Littleton won the state competition in Atlanta by making 22 of 25 free throws and winning himself a jump suit. He currently lives with his father, Zocko Littleton, Sr., in Powder Springs, Ga.

Under his father’s guidance, the younger Littleton does a lot more than just shoot free throws to get ready.

“Monday through Wednesday and Friday, I go to this cross fit place to get stronger,” he said. “They help me with my shot and I have to bend my legs and things. Then my dad comes to pick me up and we go to the gym for two to three hours.”

The elder Littleton said the fact that his son plays so much basketball means that he doesn’t really have to practice as much for the earlier competitions.

“He shoots probably more than 500 shots a day,” Mr. Littleton said. “Either weekly or by himself, he’ll be outside till it’s dark. He and I will go to the gym most of the time but even after we leave the gym, Zocko will go outside and shoot.”

Littleton, Sr. said that once they progress to the state competition, they practice with a heavier ball.

“He’s in the fifth-grade, so they shoot with a 28.5 (inch) size ball,” he said. “They play with that in AAU and school basketball until they get into the seventh-grade. We do our shooting drills with the 28.5 size ball and then we move to the 29.5 ball. We’ll then shoot 200 free throws with the 29.5 ball. Then we do a competition together and I try to put pressure on him so he won’t crack under pressure.”

The younger Littleton left Thursday for Springfield. The competition begins at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday. If he can win the competition, he will attain basketball immortality.

“If I win, I get my name put in the basketball Hall of Fame,” Littleton, Jr. said.