Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Ronald Ramon is close to breaking Pitt's record for 3-point shooting percentage.

Pitt's Ronald Ramon developed his shooting form by practicing every day with his father when he was a youngster growing up in the Bronx. Ricardo Ramon played professional basketball in the Dominican Republic, Brazil and Argentina, but once he moved to the United States, his goal was to develop the perfect shooter.

		Listen In Pitt men's basketball coach Jamie Dixon speaks with the PG's Ray Fittipaldo about the Panthers' Ronald Ramon: Did you envision Ramon having such a high shooting percentage? Is Ramon the best pure shooter you've coached? Ramon's effectiveness coming off the bench Listen to Dixon's entire press conference

The protege is not perfect, but he has been pretty close to that in the past three weeks. Ramon is shooting the ball almost as well as anyone has in Big East Conference history. In the past four games, Ramon is shooting 75 percent (12 for 16) from 3-point range. For the season, the 6-foot junior is shooting 49 percent (48 for 98).

That puts him into some elite company at Pitt and in the Big East record books. Ramon is challenging Pitt's single-season record for shooting percentage in a season. Donatas Zavackas holds the record with 49.4 percent in the 2000-01 season, but he only attempted 83 shots. Ramon already has attempted 98 and is 0.4 percentage points behind.

Ramon's career 3-point shooting percentage is more impressive. Going into Pitt's home game against St. John's tomorrow afternoon, Ramon has made 45.9 percent of his career 3-pointers (103-224). The only player in Big East history with a better 3-point shooting percentage is Jason Matthews, a Pitt guard in the late 1980s and early '90s. Matthews made 46.6 percent of his 3-point shots from 1987-91.

Ramon hasn't a clue about records. He said he never has looked at Pitt's record book and seemed genuinely unaware that he was challenging any long-standing records.

"I've never seen that stuff," Ramon said. "I don't look at that stuff at all. I just try to go out there every single game, take it one game at a time and do my best."

While Ramon shrugs off his shooting prowess, others are taking notice of the special season he is having. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, once a fine shooter at Texas Christian, said Ramon is the best pure shooter he has coached in his eight seasons at Pitt.

"He's on a roll that's pretty hard to stop right now," Dixon said.

Here's how hard: The last time Ramon shot less than 50 percent from 3-point range in a game was Jan. 4 in the Big East opener at Syracuse. Since then, he is shooting 69.5 percent (16 for 23) in the past six games.

The recent hot streak has placed Ramon among the top 10 3-point shooters in Division I this season. The No. 1 3-point shooter (as of Jan. 21, the NCAA updates statistics only once per week) was Utah's Shaun Green, who was shooting 57.3 percent.

"He's shooting the ball really well right now as the numbers indicate," Dixon said. "It gives us a great guy coming in off the bench. He gives us a spark every single time we bring him in."

Ramon is the rare shooter who can come off the bench and make shots without being into the rhythm of the game. Dixon usually brings Ramon into the game four minutes into each contest and immediately begins calling plays for Ramon to run off screens for 3-point attempts.

"You always hear about that, guys needing to get into a rhythm," Dixon said. "I talked to Ronald about it earlier in the year when we knew he was going to be coming off the bench. I told him there was going to be no waiting to get into a rhythm. I told him, 'We're running plays for you as soon as you get into the game and all the way through, so be comfortable with it.' "

Ramon, who had shoulder and thumb injuries his first two seasons at Pitt, credits his shooting to being completely healthy for the first time in his college career. That and all of those hours of practice with his dad.

"I've been shooting my whole life," Ramon said.

"I've been working with my father ever since I was little. It's a thing that just comes naturally because I work on it every single day."