Catch and shoot three. Jab step three. One dribble pull-up three. Step-back three.

All of the above are in the shooting arsenal of one Jacobi Boykins.

By no means did the St. Petersburg, Florida native just stumble upon this 'quick-trigger, don't need much time or space' gift of making it rain from 20-feet-9-inches and beyond.

The self-described gym rat became consumed by the art of the three-pointer, taking countless shots in developing the craft that has engrossed the game of basketball across all levels.

Oddly enough, that development did not start from the very start of his basketball career.

In the beginning, he was not a shooting guard. He was a … center?

"When I first starting playing basketball, I was taller than everybody so I played the post," said Boykins who came to Louisiana Tech in the summer of 2014 weighing a meager 145 pounds on a 6-foot-6-inch frame.

"It was kind of boring having to play the five. The guards always have the ball in their hands. When my coach Anthony Lawrence developed me into a guard, I liked it a lot better."

Head coach Eric Konkol, who became Jacobi's coach on May 18, 2015, remembered watching Jacobi play AAU ball in high school. He remembered how competitive and athletic he was. Oh, and how really skinny he was too.

"I did not see him as the shooter he is now," Konkol admitted. "He could make shots, but he has worked really hard to become that. His rhythm really tightened up and his range improved."

The pure lefty studied and began to emulate some of the shooting greats like Ray Allen and Reggie Miller. Their technique. Their quick release. The positioning of their feet when they came off screens.

Four years as a Bulldog and Jacobi essentially became the Ray Allen or Reggie Miller of Louisiana Tech Bulldog Basketball.

Time for some numbers to back that up.

He wrapped up his collegiate career with 269 made three-pointers, smashing the previous program record by 51 triples. That total also ranks as the sixth most in Conference USA history.

Much of that damage came in his junior and senior seasons. Junior year he set the single season program record for made trays with 89.

That record lasted only one year as he broke it again as a senior, making 98 of them.

Quite frankly, every shot taken from beyond that arc Jacobi has liked. There have been only four games ââ'¬" all in his freshman season ââ'¬" when he did not attempt a three.

He made at least four triples in a single game 26 times. He made at least six in a single game eight times. He even once made 74 in five minutes during coach Konkol's shooting drill of one basket, one ball, one rebounder.

"I have always been a worker," Boykins said. "Nowadays since I live right across the street from the TAC, I get in there a lot. I usually try to do two-a-days, one in the afternoon after I'm done with classes and another at night."

Want to be an elite shooter like Jacobi? Try out this routine.

Get on the gun ââ'¬" aka shooting machine ââ'¬" and make 500 shots that include free throws, mid-range and threes. Then shoot strictly threes until the gun stops at 999. Do that three times a week.

"My arm gets tired. Sometimes, I'll take a little break, shake it off. Stretch it out. Then get through it."

"He has put in a lot of time, late at night on his own," Konkol said. "He has developed a routine which I think is equally as important. It puts him in the right mindset. He has gotten quicker with his shot prep. I'll never forget this season against Southern Miss at home. He was 6-for-6 in the first half. There was one play where he was tying his shoe in the corner and the ball was passed to him. He still caught it, let it go and made it."

Other memorable three-point performances include:

Freshman year, going a perfect 4-for-4 against Central Michigan in the first round of the NIT and doing so in front of more than 6,000 fans;

Junior year, hitting a career-high seven three-bombs at Louisiana-Lafayette, including four late in the game that came in the span of 113 seconds. On one of those, multiple defenders were draped on him so heavily that he could not even see the rim when he shot the rock;

Senior year, nailing two corner threes in the first 56 seconds of the game at UAB to set the career program record. "I like all of the spots. For sure, the wings and the corners."

For road trips, he would often get to the arena before the rest of the team to get more shots up. After going 1-of-7 from downtown against SEMO in the second game of the 2017-18 season, he stayed late by himself after the game getting more shots up.

No one knows, not even Jacobi himself, how long he stays shooting on Karl Malone Court. "I never keep track of time."

"That is the type of attention he has put to his craft in getting better," Konkol said. "He is one of the greatest shooters ever here at Tech. He is right up there (with the best I have ever coached). With his combination of size and athleticism, I do not know if I have ever coached a player quite like that."

Asked how many threes he thinks he has taken as a Bulldog, offseason, practices, games, all of it. "Who knows. Probably six figures. Might be in the millions."

Asked if he achieved the goals he set out to as a Bulldog. "I wanted to be in the 1,000-point club and be the all-time three-point shooter. I accomplished both."

Asked if he had a favorite three-pointer as a Bulldog. "All of them that went in (laugh included)."