Blake Hoffarber

09/02/06: "We had thought to go to Cincinnati, but we decided not to go there for a visit." - www.ScoutHoops.com (4 to 2)

08/22/06: "During the weekend of September 28, I will be taking unofficial visits to Louisville, Vanderbilt and Cincinnati," he added. "I have scholarship offers from all three schools, so I am looking forward to spending a little time on each campus." - www.Rivals.com

08/16/06: "Vanderbilt offered Monday and Oregon offered yesterday. He is now up to 21 offers, but we plan to narrow down the list." Hoffarber's father) - www.ScoutHoops.com

08/15/06: "I think we're planning on coming down to Louisville the weekend of August 28 to watch them practice before they go to Canada," Hoffarber said. "We're also going to visit Vanderbilt and Cincinnati on that same weekend and maybe Notre Dame." - www.ScoutHoops.com

08/05/06: "(Louisville) offered him a scholarship on August 2nd. They wanted him to come down and watch team practice on the 21st and 22nd. They are traveling to Canada for five exhibition games. Cincinnati, which has also offered him a scholarship also watns him to stop by. . . . .Hoffarber is an excellent student with a 3.91 GPA." - www.ScoutHoops.com

08/03/06: "The scouting report on Hopkins 6-foot-3 basketball senior Blake Hoffarber is comparable to that of former Tartan star Jake Sullivan, who went on to score nearly 1,700 points at Iowa State." - Pioneer Press

07/30/06: "Blake Hoffarber, a 6-3 shooting guard from Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, MN, now has offers from Rutgers, Virginia Tech, and Cincinnati. He is also on the radar for Kansas, Stanford, Notre Dame, and West Virginia." - www.ScoutHoops.com

07/29/06: "Blake Hoffarber, the Hopkins basketball player who got a lot of national media attention for sinking an unbelievable basket while sitting on the court during the state tournament, was rated the third-best guard, the ninth-best senior and the 13th-best player overall at the recent ABCD Reebok Camp." - Minneapolis Star Tribune

07/23/06: "Blake Hoffarber has had 22 and 17 in his first two outings and is stroking it hitting 3-threes in the game that is playing in front of us as I write this. He is a good passer with unlimited range on his jumper. He's shown an ability to create his shot in Vegas." - CSTV.com

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07/26/06: Last we saw Blake Hoffarber he was lying on his back on television. And while that may sound like a sentence leading into a story about Paris Hilton, it's not. It's instead a sentence leading into a story about one of the most productive basketball players here at the Reebok Big Time Tournament, a 6-4 guard who will, at the very least, be remembered for one moment no matter what happens going forward.

"Everywhere I go people who have seen it bring it up," Hoffarber said. "So I'm still trying to get past it. I have to make people realize I'm more than just the kid who shoots from the ground."

You remember the shot, right? Down by two, clock winding down in the Minnesota 4A state title game two seasons ago. Somehow the ball lands in the hands of Hoffarber, who has fallen and can't get up. So with his butt just inside the 3-point line the lefty desperately hoists a shot that rips the net at the buzzer to send the contest to a second overtime in which Hoffarber and his Hopkins High teammates from Minnetonka ultimately prevail.

Then the craziness began. "Right after the game people were like, 'That's going to be on the news,' and I was like, 'Really?'" Hoffarber said. "And then people were like, 'It's going to be on SportsCenter,' and I was like, 'No way.' Then all of a sudden I'm getting a call telling me I'm going to the ESPYs. It was just a whirlwind."

A whirlwind, indeed. Two days after winning that state title, Hoffarber was in New York, a guest on the Today Show following a 36-hour period during which the highlight was in heavy rotation on newscasts from coast-to-coast. Unannounced, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer walked him outside to Rockefeller Center, where a basket had been placed. They put the kid on the ground, put a ball in his hands and gave him three shots to duplicate his heroics for a national television audience.

One make, and $10,000 would go to charity. He swished the third attempt. "Matt yanked him up, gave him a high five," said Bruce Hoffarber, proud father. "It was pretty cool."

Next came the ESPYs, and Hoffarber's win over Tiger Woods' chip-in at the Masters for "Best Play." The award currently sits on an end table in the family room. There's also a framed photo from the ceremony.

And that's where that part of the story ends.

This is where the rest of the story begins. Call it LAE (Life After ESPY).

The average sports fan outside of Minnesota only knows Hoffarber as the kid who hit the shot from his rear, as the ultimate H-O-R-S-E participant. He's a perfect Whatever-happened-to example having been replaced in the consciousness of mainstream America by another high school 3-point specialist/ESPY winner named Jason McElwain.

Goodbye, Blake. Hello, autistic manager. Hoffarber smiles when it's suggested his 15 minutes are up. He shrugs his shoulders and doesn't seem to care, reason being that in the past year he's moved on to bigger -- OK not bigger, but probably -- better things.

Like:

- Hoffarber led Hopkins High to another state title this past season. That's two consecutive, and a third is expected.

- Hoffarber has developed a college-ready body. Those viewing the ESPY moment at YouTube.com should picture him two inches taller and 15 pounds heavier.

- Hoffarber has gained a reputation as one of the best shooters in the country, having made more than 50 percent of his 3-point attempts at Hopkins last season before shooting 58.8 percent from behind the arc earlier this month at the Reebok ABCD Camp. Turns out he can shoot pretty well standing upright too.

- Hoffarber has become a legitimate Division I prospect with scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Washington State, Nebraska, Rutgers, Montana, Pepperdine and another couple of dozen mid-major programs. So it's likely he'll be on SportsCenter again. Someday.

"The great thing about Blake is that he's a humble kid, and he's used (the fame from the ESPY) as motivation," said Jared Nuness, a former Valparaiso standout who is now an assistant coach at Hopkins High. "A lot of kids would settle after that, but he works harder than anybody. He's up every morning at 7 shooting. He's just worked harder and harder."

The payoff has come this week. Hoffarber has navigated the Minnesota Magic Elite through a field of 304 teams to the Elite Eight, where it will play Kevin Love's Southern California All-Stars today for the right to advance to the Final Four of the Reebok Big Time Tournament. He's averaged 18.9 points and 5.4 rebounds in seven games while shooting 50.5 percent from the field, including 40.4 percent from 3-point range.

"He can shoot the piss out of it," said one high-major Division I coach who watched Hoffarber earlier this week. "There aren't many better shooters in the country."

Granted, only being able to "shoot the piss out of it" will not get Hoffarber on national television again by Sunday. But what it will do is keep the scholarship offers coming for a blossoming prospect who is still trying to make people realize he's more than just the kid who shoots from the ground. "Blake's way past that now," Nuness said. "He's a great shooter, but he's working on the other parts of his game. He plays hard and plays good defense, and he's going to show people he's more than just that ESPY shot."

One upright jumper at a time.
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07/20/06: "Blake Hoffarber recently received offers from Cincinnati and Virginia Tech after playing well at the Reebok ABCD camp, where he finished as the top three-point shooter and 13th overall player." - www.ScoutHoops.com

07/11/06: "The list for 6'4 Blake Hoffarber from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN includes Wake Forest, Minnesota, Kansas, Indiana, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh." - www.HoopScoopOnline.com

07/10/06: "We also want to give 6'4 Blake Hoffarber from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN special mention, because he was the best 3-point shooter in camp, as was evident by the fact he hit 58.8% from beyond the arc and even more of his misses were pretty close to being right on target. " - www.HoopScoopOnline.com

06/20/06: Listed as the 354th best player in his class. - www.HoopScoopOnline.com