Blake Hoffarber (born April 27, 1988) is an American former college basketball player who played the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

position on the University of Minnesota men's basketball team. The 6'4", 200 lbs Blake Hoffarber bio – Gophersports.com—Official Web Site of University of Minnesota Athletics
Hoffarber is a

Minnetonka, Minnesota Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of Minneapolis. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's popu ...

native who gained fame by way of numerous highlight reel shots during the course of his basketball career. The first occurred during the 2005 Minnesota State High School Basketball Tournament against Eastview High School, for which he won the 2005 Best Play ESPY Award. The second, a game-winning buzzer beater in the 2008 Big Ten tournament against

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, for which he was again nominated for an

ESPY The ESPY Awards (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, and often referred to as the ESPYs) is an annual American awards show produced by ESPN since 1993, recognizing individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-r ...

for Best Play of the Year. He was a 2011

Academic All-American An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the ...

selection.

High school

Blake was a three-time all conference selection in high school where he played for

Hopkins High School Hopkins High School is a public high school located in Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States. Hopkins High School is part of the Hopkins School District 270. History In the 1970s, there were two high schools in the district: Dwight D. Eisenhow ...

. In April 2007, Hoffarber was awarded the title of

Minnesota Mr. Basketball Minnesota Mr. Basketball is an annual award recognizing excellence in Minnesota boys' high school basketball. The female equivalent is Minnesota Miss Basketball. The award's legitimacy was challenged in February 2017 when Henry Sibley, Minnesota ...

, an annual award given to the state's top senior for his play over the course of his high school career. Hoffarber is best known for a highlight reel shot during the championship game of the 2005 Minnesota State High School Basketball Tournament. With his Hopkins High School Royals trailing by two in the waning seconds of the state championship game, Hoffarber had a loose ball fall into his hands after he was knocked to the ground. While sitting on the floor of the

Target Center Target Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Minneapolis that opened in 1990. It hosts major family shows, concerts, sporting events, graduations and private events. Target Corporation, founded and headquartered in Minneapolis since 1902, h ...

, Hoffarber launched an 18-foot shot that went in, sending the game to a second overtime where the Royals eventually prevailed. Hoffarber won the 2005 Best Play ESPY Award for the shot, beating out

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

' birdie chip at the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

. He was also featured on the ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

'' in New York City with

Matt Lauer Matthew Todd Lauer (; born December 30, 1957) is a former American television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the ne ...

, where he repeated the same shot from his seat again, for which the ''Today Show'' donated $10,000 to a charity in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in his name. Hoffarber helped the Royals to another state championship during his junior year in 2006 when they beat the Robbinsdale Cooper Hawks in the championship game. Hoffarber's high school coach was his uncle, Ken Novak, Jr.

College

Hoffarber announced in October 2006 that he would be attending the

Carlson School of Management The Curtis L. Carlson School of Management is the business school of the University of Minnesota, a public research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Carlson School offers undergraduate and graduate degr ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

on a basketball scholarship. As a freshman, Hoffarber was one of the top shooters in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

in 3-point percentage and is one of the top three-point shooters in the nation. On March 14, 2008, in the

Big Ten tournament Big Ten Tournament can refer to any Big Ten Conference sport that has a tournament or championship game: * Big Ten Football Championship Game * Big Ten men's basketball tournament * Big Ten women's basketball tournament * Big Ten baseball tournamen ...

, Hoffarber made a game-winning jump shot as time expired against

, which attracted nationwide attention and has been compared to the famous

Christian Laettner Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball, Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegi ...

shot against

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

in the 1992

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

tournament. On July 1, 2008, ESPN announced that Hoffarber's miraculous shot against Indiana was nominated for an

for the Best Play of the Year, Hoffarber's second such nomination. On December 15, 2009, Hoffarber tied and then broke the University of Minnesota men's basketball record for 3-point shots made in one game, when he hit 8 out of 10 in an 89–48 win against

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

. Hoffarber set a single-season record at the University of Minnesota for three-pointers made during his junior season in 2009–10, with 85. He currently holds the record at Minnesota for the most made three-pointers in school history, with 279. Hoffarber ended his career 18th on Minnesota's All-Time Scoring List with 1,267 points. On February 22, 2011, he was named as a second team

, the first Gopher basketball player to be named an Academic All-American.

Professional

After college, Hoffarber was invited to the

Portsmouth Invitational Tournament The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, (PIT), is the only postseason camp restricted to college basketball seniors. The Portsmouth Invitational is the first of two NBA pre-Draft (sports), draft camps, the other being the Orlando pre-Draft (sport ...

NBA pre-draft camp, and had summer workouts with the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

, and

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

but, due to the

2011 NBA Lockout The 2011 NBA lockout was the fourth and most recent lockout in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Team owners began the work stoppage upon expiration of the 2005 collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The 161-day lockout ...

, opted for Europe, where he played for Fos Ouest Provence Basketball in the French professional league

LNB Pro B The LNB Pro B, commonly known as Pro B, is the second-tier level men's professional basketball league in France. It is the second division of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB), which has organized the league since the year 1987. The regular se ...

Current

Hoffarber currently resides in

Wayzata Wayzata ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,434 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of the Twin Cities, Wayzata is located about west of Minneapolis al ...

, a suburb of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, and is a senior vice president at

Marsh & McLennan Companies Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., doing business as Marsh McLennan, is a global professional services firm, headquartered in New York City with businesses in insurance brokerage, risk management, reinsurance services, talent management, inves ...

within their property & casualty insurance division.

References

External links

YouTube video of the highlight-reel shot from high schoolYouTube video of the highlight-reel shot from college
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffarber, Blake 1988 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in France American men's basketball players Carlson School of Management alumni Fos Provence Basket players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball players Sportspeople from Minnetonka, Minnesota Basketball players from Hennepin County, Minnesota Shooting guards Hopkins High School alumni