One of these days, the game-deciding shot will be in the air, the buzzer will sound, and the crowd will suspend its emotions seemingly forever because the shot will be released by Sherron Collins, Kansas University’s 5-foot-11 guard out of Chicago Crane High.

It’s not that Collins takes long to get rid of it. He doesn’t. His release is quick.

It’s just that his shot is in the air longer than most for the simple reason it travels higher.

Collins burst out laughing when asked about the arc on his shot.

“In high school, it was higher than what it is now,” he said. “I took it down a little bit. In high school, I shot the ball real high.”

Collins looked back on his early days on the practice floor at KU with a chuckle.

“The coaches were like, ‘Oh my God, it’s a high shot!’ I started trying to shoot it down a little after that,” Collins said. “It helped me. My shot’s looking better, and I’m getting more comfortable with it.”

Considering how often his shot swishes through the net, everybody has reason to be comfortable with it. Collins is the team’s leading three-point shooter (.429). His overall shooting percentage of .474 is deceiving. As archaic a statistic as there is in sports, field-goal percentage assigns equal value to two-point field goals and three-pointers. Eventually, college and pro basketball governing bodies will conquer their laziness and use adjusted field-goal percentage – which gives 1.5 credits to three-point shots – as the standard.

Kansas University freshman Sherron Collins signals a play as he brings the ball up the court against Towson in this file photo from Nov. 19. Collins had four assists and no turnovers in that game.

Using that statistic, Collins ranks second among KU scholarship players with a .590 mark. Darnell Jackson is first at .596, Mario Chalmers (.574) third, followed by Julian Wright (.571) and Darrell Arthur (.528). Brandon Rush and Sasha Kaun both have an adjusted field- goal percentage of .500. Brady Morningstar, Jeremy Case and Rodrick Stewart check in at .423, and Russell Robinson, who does everything else well, is last with a shooting efficiency rating of .383.

Collins is 6-of-12 from long range in the past five games, but that stat isn’t the best one to demonstrate his growth offensively during his time at Kansas. He started the season on a hot streak as well, hitting eight of 16 three-point shots in the season’s first four games.

It’s his assist-to-turnover ratio that better demonstrates how the game he sees before him has been playing in slower motion of late. Against Detroit and Rhode Island, Collins totaled 10 assists and two turnovers. Before that, he had 21 assists and 18 turnovers.

He has had the quickness to get to the lane from the moment he stepped on the Allen Fieldhouse Floor. With experience, Collins has grown much better at deciding what to do with the ball once he gets to the lane. The twisting, turning shots that were the rule early in his career have become the exception.

Above, Kansas guard Sherron Collins, left, receives instruction from coach Bill Self in the Jayhawks' game against Toledo in Kansas City, Mo.

“I still look to score, but you’ve got to look to dish,” Collins said. “Big people are going to look to jump and block my shot because of how small I am. I look to dish and get my teammates easy buckets, get going off the big man, because when they get going, then the whole team wants to get going, and that can start a big rally.”

Collins’ learning experience takes a trip into unfamiliar territory as he plays in front of a hostile, one-sided crowd on a college campus for the first time in his career Sunday in Columbia, S.C., against the University of South Carolina Gamecocks.

The crowds in Las Vegas for games against Ball State and Florida were pro-KU.

The crowd for the DePaul game, played far from campus at the school’s poorly placed homecourt, All-State Arena, had some fire to it, but it had a big group of KU supporters as well.

“All the trainers and coaches said: ‘Now you’re going to see how it is in another person’s house.’ I see how our fans treat other teams,” Collins said. “I know it’s going to be tough going in there. I’m ready for it. That’s what I’m here for.”

The most hostile environment he has played in so far?

“Marshall High School,” Collins said. “Our rivalry. Every game is packed to the doors. They put caution tape around the court. The stands are right up on the court. You hear some talking in the background. You hit a shot and look at the person who’s talking like, ‘I’m going to keep doing it all night.’ That’s the most fun part. If you make a layup and you fall, you’re going to fall into the crowd.”

Falling into the crowd won’t be a problem for Collins this weekend. Blocking out the crowd and silencing it with rainbow jumpers will be the issues.