 Even though the slam dunk contest featured some lesser
known athletes, these athletes made in showmanship
what they lacked in notoriety. Unknowns such as
the 5'9" star from Division III school, West Virginia
Tech University, Daniel McGaffeny reminded the
world that there is a lot of hidden college basketball
talent. "He [McGaffeny's coach] thought it would
be a good idea for me to show my talent to the
world," said McGaffeny of why he decided to enter
the contest. As the competition progressed into
the later rounds, the dunks got more outrageous
as players tried to out-do each other's athleticism
and style. Mercer University's Wesley Duke was
the clear Best in Show as his dunks continuously
amazed fans and shocked the cameras. In his first
attempt, Duke dunked with a pen in his mouth that
he then used to sign autographs for the crowd.
In his second run to the basket, Mercer stripped
off his shirt to the "ooh's" and "ahh's" and the
female viewers and then finished off his performance
with a shirtless dance for the cameras that included
pom-poms borrowed from a Rams cheerleader. "I
was waiting all day [to do that]. I wanted that
one," said Duke. "It was unbelievable and I loved
every minute of it." Duke's flashy choreography
was not enough, however, to get him into the finals,
where Jameel Pugh from Sacramento State and Mindaugas
Katelynas from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
battled to be crowned the best slam dunk artist
in college basketball. Leading up to the finals,
Pugh also showed his sillier side when he underwent
a costume change and nailed a 360 degree dunk
in an afro wig, followed by an even more impressive
run to the basket when he jumped over Oklahoma
State University's John Lucas. Despite these impressive
displays, Pugh was unable to pull it off in the
finals and was beat by the crowd-loving Katelynas.
At 6'9"and 225 pounds, the lanky Katelynas, a
native of Lithuania, made leaping through the
air seem effortless as he nailed his final dunk
from the free-throw line and the crowd went wild.
Katelynas had been planning his victory for years
and was happy to participate in and win the competition.
"I've been thinking about this [winning the contest]
for the past three years, but I had to wait until
I was a senior," said Katelynas. "That was the
greatest time I've had in a while." |
