Hofman Conditioned for Future

By Joshua Manly

As a freshman, Billy Hofman knew he would need to run, he had
experienced it throughout his career at La Canada High School when
he was named to the All-CIF team and a top 20 point guard in
Southern California.

However, the conditioning of a collegiate program was something
he had never experienced.

“When I got to conditioning I think my legs died on the first
day,” said Hofman. “I don’t think that my legs recovered until
Spring Break.”

Now Hofman averages more than 30 minutes a game as the starting
point guard for the Broncos, an average that he has maintained over
the past two seasons.

“The games really keep me in shape now,” said Hofman. “I
normally want to run around during the breaks to make sure that I
keep in shape. My legs feel really fresh at this point in the
season.”

As a “pass first” point guard, Hofman looks to open up the floor
before taking his own shot, however, he has never been a stranger
to the scoring column.

“Basically for the past couple years, I have been trying to take
open shots (…) however, now I have to take a couple more shots
because we can’t rely on John Boyd,” said Hofman. “Coach is always
telling me to take more shots in practice, take more threes.”

During last season, Hofman shot more than 44 percent from behind
the arc as well as 45 percent from the floor, now he is looking to
shoot with more confidence than in the past, especially when Luis
Pulido, a senior who transferred from Cal State Bakersfield, is on
the floor.

“Luis has done a fantastic job for us this season,” said Hofman.
“He definitely took a lot more pressure off of me. When he and I
are both in I normally move to the [shooting] guard, then I just
have to worry about catch and shoot.”

Hofman also does his best to get to the free throw line as well;
last season he led the team from the charity stripe, shooting 86
percent throughout the season.

This season the Bronco’s have faced defenses that are far above
the normal caliber in Division I opponents such as Loyola Marymount
University and the University of Southern California.

Though exhibition games, Hofman already has shown glimmers of
his talent against the big name schools, especially against LMU in
which he helped orchestrate a run that cut a 22 point deficit to
just four points.

In that game Hofman hit three consecutive three pointers.

“I am just always ready to shoot and Luis found me a couple of
times and I got a couple of open shots,” said Hofman. “I don’t just
shoot to shoot, I will hopefully make it every time, I shoot to
make it 100 percent of the time. The defense just kind of forgot
about me for a while.”

Shooting doesn’t always come easy to Hofman though as he
experienced trouble shooting against USC.

“It was especially tough against USC, maybe because of the
pressure defense or because I was having an off day but I was
getting some open looks that just weren’t falling,” said
Hofman.

With the team at 1-1 this season before its home opener against
Cal State Bernardino, Hofman is already aiming at high goals for
the team during the season.

Citing the teams ability both as a cohesive unit and each
player’s ability to break out for a game, Hofman hopes the team
goes deep in to the Division II tournament, if not winning the
whole thing this season.

True to his position, the team is all Hofman cares about in
terms of accolades.

“I just want to help the team anyway I can, if that means
shooting then that is what I will do, and if it means finding
people first then that is what I will try to improve on,” said
Hofman. “Both the defensive and offensive sides of the ball are
important to me.”

Joshua Manly can be reached by e-mail at
managingeditor@thepolypost.com or by phone at (909) 869-4630.

Hofman Conditioned for Future