GBS Seniors Corey McMahon, Jack Ryan, Ned Ruter, Nolan Hart, and Luke Harrison are a new group of “Five Guys” in town, who seem to be rackin’ up more than burgers at the local restaurant. This trick-shot producing squad’s video has reached over 9,500 views on their YouTube channel, was featured in this year’s variety show, and the popular website BroBible.com.
The boys originally came up with the idea of creating their own video after they noticed that videos which seemed weak were getting up to 50,000 views.
“After looking at the shots they were making we thought, ‘we can do this’,” Ryan said. “Watching all these youtube videos inspired us to do something that we thought we could do better.”
Ryan explains that the squad was very skeptic skeptical about the idea when they were first starting out, but then decided to pursue the challenge after he hit the shot from the top of the Pleasant Ridge roof.
“Just the feeling of doing that was enough to hook me,” Ryan said. “We were all in after that.”
The boys were just average ballers until they decided to take their project to the next level by purchasing a hoop that they could be mobile with.
“It was an awesome process because we felt like the A-team out there,” said Ryan. “Just getting equipment out of our truck, setting it up, doing our mission and going home satisfied. We said ‘Autobox Rollout’ at the end of everyday.”
Hart describes some shots as being extremely easy, while others took a decent amount of time to make. The time depended on distance and the technique development that the group had gained from experience. Their shots ranged from taking ten minutes at the ranch, to taking an hour to complete the OLPH fire escape, trampoline, basket exchange. Hart noted that because of the patience that many of the shots required, the squad could only get in a few shots per day. The group was still very persistent.
“We had an assembly line of basketballs,” Hart said. “So we were constantly shooting until we made it.”
While the variety show for some performers was their last chance to show off their work, for this squad, it was just beginning. The boys had submitted their video to brobible.com shortly after the video was completed, and before the GBS variety show went underway. Their video earned a spot on the Brobible website the Saturday night of variety show. Here, they have earned the chance to compete against six other groups in the Ultimate Trick-Shot Video Challenge, a contest determined by member voting on brobible. The winner is yet to be determined.
The five guys have received a variety of feedback since their posting on brobible.com and appearance in the GBS performance. The group was surprised that many of the viewers challenged the validity of their shots.
“It’s flattering that the shots are so difficult that people don’t believe we could have made them,” Hart said, “but it gets frustrating when we can’t convince some people that they are all genuine.”
Ruter attempts to convince the mistaken in that the group wouldn’t just put a single fake shot with a ton of real shots because it would ruin the video as a whole. In addition, Ryan notes that the squad would technologically never be capable of doing such a thing.
“We’re not computer master minds,” Ryan said. “The ball stays in the frame the whole shot. I don’t know how to use those crazy programs, so it’s just foolish to think they are fake.”
The group does plan to shoot a sequel when they visit home from college this coming year. According to Hart, the group envisions their sequel as being shorter with even more challenging shots. Hart notes that the squad will make up for the lost time compared to the first video, by making tougher shots. For this reason, they anticipate the sequel to be better than the original.
“We’re doing some solo work now,” Ryan said. “Then we’ll be back for a grand reunion, like a “this is it” tour that will be even better.”