Before he shoots — no matter if it’s off a pass, off the dribble, or in transition — University of Toledo senior Nate Navigato makes sure he has his first two fingers on the ball pointing at the rim.
It serves as a reminder of sorts to keep him at ease with his shooting motion.
But more than anything, Navigato trusts the work he has put in perfecting his shot and just lets it fly.
“I honestly think, ‘Just shoot it,’” he said. “Just shoot it the way you’ve been shooting it and I don’t really think too much about it.”
That mentality has helped him become Toledo’s all-time leader in made 3-pointers with 279, passing Nick Moore on the list in a Jan. 18 win against Ohio.
Navigato is having the best shooting season of his career — he is second nationally in 3-point percentage (49.1 percent) and second in the Mid-American Conference with 2.9 made 3s per game. He is shooting 48.6 percent overall from the field and 94.4 percent from the free-throw line.
At 6-foot-8, his size and quick release allow him to get his shot off under duress even when closely guarded.
“He’s not a good shooter, he’s an elite shooter,” Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “He’s one of the best shooters in the country and now with the record is the best shooter in school history.
“He has a very quick release, and the thing about him is that it’s the same shot every time he shoots it. That’s just because he is in the gym a ton in the offseason.”
As a sixth-grader at a basketball camp in his hometown of Geneva, Ill., Navigato caught the attention of Phil Ralston, who was just starting as the head coach at Geneva High School.
“It was at our camp and I saw him shooting, and he just had this effortless shot,” Ralston said. “I remember thinking this is a kid that would be a great inside-out type player for us. You could see the enthusiasm and aggressiveness that you just didn’t see from other kids.”
Navigato’s work ethic quickly became apparent to Ralston, who said he never has coached someone who worked as hard on his shot as Navigato did and still does. He often would go to the gym before school at 6 a.m. and get in workouts with a passing machine.
“Basically in the entire time he was in high school, the machine was worn down so much, mostly from him, that it had to be replaced,” Ralston said. “That’s how much use it got.”
Ralston tried not to tinker too much with Navigato’s approach once he reached the high school level.
“There wasn’t much to try to fix,” Ralston said. “When you have a kid that comes in as a 6-4 or 6-5 freshman and he’s already one of your best perimeter shooters, you don’t want to mess with a good thing. The only thing that we considered was for him to be able to play at the next level was the speed of his shot. His shot is so compact anyway that it was all about how quick he could get it off. That certainly has helped him at the college level.”
Navigato, whom Ralston described as a shooting sniper, left Geneva High School as the all-time leader in points (1,764) and 3s made (176).
He initially committed to Buffalo, but when Bobby Hurley left the Bulls for the head coaching job at Arizona State, Navigato re-opened his recruitment, giving Toledo a second chance.
“We probably made a mistake the first time,” Kowalczyk said. “We were really high on him and we didn’t have a scholarship for him. We probably should have tried to over-sign to get him and we didn’t. It just worked out when Bobby Hurley left Buffalo. We got a phone call from his high school coach and the first thing we thought about was here’s a guy that can really, really shoot it and is a great teammate.”
Navigato said he has worked hard with assistant coach Kyle Barlow and the rest of the UT staff on his shot.
“It’s just improved and improved because of the reps and the types of shots I’ve been taking in practice and in games,” he said. “It’s just consistency.”
From the moment he stepped on campus, he has spent a lot of time putting up shots with fellow senior Jaelan Sanford, who said it comes as no surprise that Navigato set the program record.
“I think a lot of it has to do with confidence,” Sanford said. “His confidence has grown tremendously since freshman year and it has gotten him to where he is now. That’s an awesome accomplishment for him, but I’m not surprised with the way he shoots the ball and the way we find him and how we play unselfishly.”
First Published January 25, 2019, 9:05 p.m.
