Latest news with #dunk
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Meet high school dunking star Oliviyah Edwards, a top prospect whose fans include Candace Parker
To seventh-grade Oliviyah Edwards, it was a dunk. Many categorized it as a rim-graze. In retrospect, she knows they're right. That wasn't a dunk in the first breakout video. But every one since then fits the bill. Candace Parker knows it. Kim Mulkey and Dawn Staley have seen it. And the best NCAA Division I programs in the country want it in their gym. Edwards, five years removed from a move that can promptly put girls basketball players on the national map, is the No. 2-ranked recruit by ESPN in the 2026 class. While her dunking ability makes headlines and Parker's Instagram page, her all-around game brings Mulkey, Staley and the nation's best coaches to recruit. The 6-foot-3 forward is coveted for her athleticism, strength, defensive versatility and footwork in the paint, plus an expanding shooting range that makes her one of the most versatile in the nation. In a November list of best recruits that included the 2025 class, the five-star prospect nicknamed 'Big O' came in at fifth. She's fielded dozens of offers from Division I programs dating back to middle school. She trimmed her finalists from 10 down to USC, South Carolina, Tennessee, LSU, Washington and Florida, Edwards exclusively told Yahoo Sports. She is leaning towards one, but wants to take official visits before an announcement closer to November, she said. 'I'm going to keep an open mindset, and then after that, I'm going to make my decision, and that'll be that,' Edwards told Yahoo Sports. The Tacoma, Washington, native previously considered Notre Dame, Duke, Florida State and North Carolina. All except Florida and Washington ranked in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll of the 2024-25 season. When she chooses a school and arrives on campus next summer, 'that's when I'm really gonna blossom and grow into who I'm really supposed to be as an athlete,' she said. 'And that's when you're really gonna see the monster in me, because I'll be pushed to that ability.' Ahead of her senior high school season, she'll return to Overtime Select this month as captain of Venom Tears, coached by Tennessee's three-time champion Chamique Holdsclaw. Edwards won Queen of the Court honors in the league's inaugural season a year ago. The eight-team league provides an opportunity to play with the nation's best and create connections with future teammates and opponents at the next levels. Autumn Fleary (No. 3 ranked point guard in 2026) and Eve Long (No. 9 recruit, 2027) will also play for Venom, which begins action on Saturday. Edwards has already bloomed far from her non-basketball roots. As one of the top prospects in the country, she's more than a girl who dunks. Even though she'd like to do it more. Edwards viewed herself as a wrestler above all else. And there was plenty of 'else.' Rock climbing, football and soccer. Afternoons of neighborhood Nerf tag that bled into the night. At the start of sixth grade, she began to develop knee pain while doing certain wrestling moves. Her mom, Jordan West, suggested basketball, an activity Edwards played minimally at school recess. They went to a tryout of Hard Work Beats Talent, the nonprofit AAU program in Tacoma where West's boyfriend, Zach Carter, coached teams in fourth through eighth grade. The foray was nearly short-lived. It was so hard to watch Edwards struggling to keep up with a dribbling drill, she said her mother didn't want to bring her back. She would trip over her own feet up and down the court, West said. Even though Edwards lacked handles, Carter caught glimpses of potential every time she chased down a lost ball and tried again. The athletic gifts were clear, and the boys marveled at her height. She was the only girl in the program. 'Yeah, watch this,' she recalled telling them at one practice. She lifted upward and grabbed the rim. 'That's where it all started,' she said. As she developed more bounce, she decided to try it on her outdoor hoop one workout. It went in, and even though it wasn't regulation, 'it was the first time I was like, OK, I can get up there, because it's still pretty high,' she said. The team of fifth-grade boys played up a grade to sixth with Edwards on the team until March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down. Schools in Washington state closed for 15 months, forcing Edwards to miss in-person life as a seventh-grader. Carter ran workouts with the couple's four kids in the interim. 'He had the hurdles,' Edwards said. 'We had the ladders out. We were running hills. Literally, like, no excuses, every day, we're just getting at it. And so that's really what got me good.' Edwards said that given the lack of organized basketball and in-person interactions, 'no one expected' the talent she brought to the court out of the pandemic's shutdown. She joined the Northwest Greyhounds of the adidas 3SSB circuit after Carter ran into the coach at the local park one day, West said. In the span of less than two years, Edwards transitioned from a wrestler lacking ball-handling skills to a recruit dunking on a WNBA icon's phone. In the summer before her eighth-grade year, she slammed down the rim-grazing bucket at a local tournament in Centralia, Washington. Parker, whose own dunk at the age of 15 spread widely before the days of social media, posted it to her more than 1 million Instagram followers and reached out directly to the young future star. 'I go out to places where people are like, oh, I've seen you on Candace Parker's page,' said Edwards, who has since met the three-time WNBA champion. 'It's just crazy to me.' Parker is a semi-regular in the comments section, posting fire emojis and elevating above everyday fans claiming Edwards should sign with their collegiate team. 'I personally see big Tennessee orange in her future,' Parker, a two-time Lady Vols champion, wrote under a post showing Edwards dunking with Mulkey, LSU's title-winning head coach, in attendance last month. Last week, Edwards announced a Sept. 12 trip to Tennessee, where head coach Kim Caldwell sprinted the Lady Vols back into relevancy. Edwards visited Rocky Top in January for the Tennessee-LSU showdown and said she 'sees a whole bunch of me's out there' watching Caldwell's Tennessee offense. Meanwhile, the Tigers program leaned heavily into name, image, likeness support for its players, an aspect Edwards liked. Edwards already visited USC, which received a commitment from No. 1 recruit Saniyah Hall in July, and said she liked the teammates with whom she'd play. Edwards played for Naismith National Player of the Year JuJu Watkins this summer in the OT Select Takeover event, an All-Star-type weekend for the company. Watkins tore her ACL in March and will miss most, if not all, of the upcoming NCAA season. The scheduled preseason trips consist of Florida (Sept. 5), South Carolina (Sept. 19), Washington (Sept. 26) and LSU (Oct. 10). At South Carolina, Staley will 'work me hard and bring out that beast I'm talking about,' Edwards said. Both Washington and Florida felt right to Edwards, with the former being close to home, she said. In May, adidas announced Edwards among its 2025 class of name, image, likeness deals. Parker is the company's president of women's basketball. The connection isn't lost on Edwards, who noted that Tennessee is reportedly returning to adidas beginning in 2026. On the 3SSB adidas circuit, Carter, who took over coaching when Edwards reached 17U, wanted Edwards to develop into 'the most versatile player in her class,' West said in an email, after he felt she was being pigeonholed by other coaches into playing traditional center minutes. Edwards made sure to dunk in her final Greyhounds game this summer, racking up attempts to finally notch one. She intends to slam one in OT Select, where she can work into a flow of dunking more often. They come mostly on fast breaks, typically the case in the women's game, as she learns how to attack the rim with defenders around her. The women's game has long been dinged for its lack of play above the rim, even if it is often a disingenuous argument. As more athletic players develop the skill, that will naturally change. Those who dunk consistently push the game forward, as athletes with rare skillsets are still outsized draws. 'I used to not think about it, but now that the game is evolving, I do think I want to see myself — I do want to dunk more,' Edwards said. 'I do. I do think it'll make women's basketball watchable too. I think I see people talking about how, like, oh, women don't do this. This is why we watch men's and I just feel like, if I can bring more eyes to women's basketball, I feel like that gives more opportunity to everybody.' More players than ever before are dunking as college prospects, and once they hit college. The list of women's players to dunk in an NCAA Division I game has grown quickly since Edwards attended her first basketball tryout. South Carolina 6-3 forward Ashlyn Watkins has three since 2022. Francesca Belibi, a 6-1 forward, came into Stanford known for that skill set. The last to have done it before the active era was Brittney Griner, a 6-8 Baylor star from 2009-13. Sylvia Fowles (6-6, LSU), Parker (6-4, Tennessee), Sancho Lyttle (6-5, Houston) and Michelle Snow (6-5, Tennessee) all threw one down in college in the 2000s. Georgeann Wells, a 6-foot-6 West Virginia center, was the first to dunk in the 1980s, and North Carolina's 6-foot forward Charlotte Smith did it in the early 1990s. In the WNBA's 29-year history, a total of eight players dunked a combined 38 times — none more than Griner, who crushes the competition with 27. Parker, Lisa Leslie, Fowles and Liz Cambage each have two. The league is on dunk watch for 2025 No. 2 draft pick Dominique Malonga, a 6-6 French phenom. Edwards is among the crop of incoming talents with dunking potential. The WNBA is in the future almost as far as her basketball start is in the past. And while it's still unclear where she'll begin her college career next fall, one thing's for certain: she'll be there, elevating above the rim, drawing even more eyes to the women's game.
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
"I got it up and stuffed it in, that started it, I guess" - Bob Kurland recalls the first dunk in college basketball history
"I got it up and stuffed it in, that started it, I guess" - Bob Kurland recalls the first dunk in college basketball history originally appeared on Basketball Network. The dunk is one of basketball's most electrifying moves — a moment of dominance and flair. Today, it fuels highlights, swings momentum and can define a player. But it wasn't always that way. The first recorded dunk in college basketball history came not as a spectacle, but as a regular play under the basket. Bob "Foothills" Kurland, a towering 7-footer from Oklahoma A&M (Oklahoma State) in the 1940s, who — almost by accident — helped change the course of the sport forever. "The ball happened to be under the basket. I got it up and stuffed it in. That started it, I guess." Kurland reflected. Kurland's first dunk didn't come with publicity or purpose. As he later recalled, it was sort of an accident. An Accidental Revolution At the time, basketball was still a game mostly played below the rim, and the dunk was a foreign skill to many players. Most of the players were vertically challenged guards, so dunking was a serious obstacle for them. Kurland, nonetheless, was special. He was 7 feet tall, with surprising agility for his size, so he didn't need to jump high to reach the rim. What seemed like an easy finish — dropping the ball through the hoop — soon became a movement. Other tall players began to follow the trend. Gradually, the dunk became a legitimate, high-percentage scoring method. His dominance and the dunk's rising usage didn't go unnoticed. Kurland led Oklahoma A&M to back-to-back NCAA championships in 1945 and 1946 and became a three-time Ban on Dunks Ironically, the dunk's growth eventually led to its ban, primarily due to dominant big men Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Due to his athletic abilities, he was able to dunk quite often and the NCAA wanted to limit him. In 1967, dunking was banned in college basketball, a rule widely believed to target Alcindor's dominance at UCLA. It remained prohibited for the next nine years. This decision, often called the "Lew Alcindor Rule," highlighted how far the dunk had come since Kurland's understated start. It was no longer an accident; it was now considered too adequate and disruptive a move that needed to be removed from the game to maintain balance. Ironically, banning it only made fans want it more. When the NCAA reinstated the dunk in 1976, the players were ready to display their dunks in a new era of athleticism that continues today. Kurland didn't set out to make history with a dunk. He wasn't trying to start a revolution or reshape how basketball was played. But in that spontaneous moment under the basket, he unknowingly sparked one of the most influential developments in basketball. Today, the dunk is more than just two points — it's a statement. And every time a player throws one down, they mirror Kurland's first gutsy dunk. He may not have meant to change the game, but he did just that in stuffing the ball through the story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 31, 2025, where it first appeared.
The Australian
28-07-2025
- Sport
- The Australian
Watch: Aussie Johnny Furphy's monster NBA Summer League dunk goes viral
Aussie Indiana Pacer Johnny Furphy has elevated and detonated to produce one of the greatest in-game dunks by an Australian ever — and hilariously described it as 'nothing out of the ordinary'. Less than a month after he was part of the Pacers squad that pushed Oklahoma City to seven games in the NBA finals, the 20-year-old Victorian stopped Las Vegas Summer League in its tracks with a jaw-dropping hammer that immediately went viral. With 3.30 left in the second quarter, Furphy rebounded a Chicago miss and took the ball coast-to-coast. Johnny Furphy puts Noa Essengue on a brutal poster. Eyeing the basket, Furphy rose, cocked his arm back, hung in the air and crammed the ball down the cylinder in a stunning statement that brought the entire Pacers bench to its feet. 'I didn't really plan it out, I don't normally jump off two feet so that's a new experience for me — It wasn't anything out of the ordinary,' Furphy said, with a cheeky grin, post game. 'I just want to be as aggressive as possible and, when I see an opportunity, I'm going to take it.' Take it, he did, the Maribyrnong College product immortalising Bulls 2025 first-round pick Noa Essengue who on a poster for the world to see.. Fellow Aussie NBA draft pick Lachlan Olbrich could only look on in stunned disbelief as Johnny Furphy baptised his Chicago Bulls teammate. Fellow Aussie Lachy Olbrich, the Illawarra Hawks NBL champion selected with pick No.55 in this year's draft, had the best seat in the house to the nasty dunk, trailing behind Furphy as he yammed it on his teammate's noggin'. 'I played Lachlan (at) 2021 nationals when I was a no-name so I remember matching up with him and he just dominated so it's pretty cool to play him on a stage like this,' Furphy said. The effort sent NBA Twitter into overdrive and had many wondering if an Australian had ever produced a dunk that matched it. Pacers franchise player Tyrese Haliburton couldn't hide his approval: 'Johnny MF Furphy sheeeeeesh', the injured star wrote on X. 'Your favorite players favorite player,' he added. The 35th pick in the 2024 NBA draft is no one-trick pony, either, his 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists 2 steals and 2 blocks filling the stat sheet, despite the Bulls' 114-105 win. Furphy said he was making the most of his chance at Summer League as he prepares for his sophomore NBA season. 'I'm just tryng to use my experience as much as possible,' he said. 'Second time here, I know what to expect. 'I've still got a lot more room to improve, especially with shooting and taking care of the ball. 'This is just a good opportunity for guys like me and other younger guys to have the ball in their hands.' Aussie Johnny Furphy clears for take off. A chestbump after Furphy's stunner. Marty Clark, Furphy's coach at the NBA Global Academy, recently told Code Sports he expected the young gun to develop into an Olympian – after once not making the top state team for Victoria. 'He was in the U20 B team for Victoria when I first saw him and the first thing we thought was 'who's that and why haven't we seen him before?',' Clarke recalls of Furphy. 'He just stood out. Long, athletic, straight line, played hard.' He said the 206cm Furphy drew comparisons to the likes of Joe Ingles and Brad Newley. 'I guess (he's) similar in Joe's capability at that size with maybe Brad Newley's athleticism, and you even think Andrew (Gaze), that big guard, and no one's comparing them to Andrew yet, but just the physical tools. 'I think that's where some people underestimate (his) sheer size.' Michael Randall Basketball journalist Michael Randall is a basketball reporter for the Herald Sun and CODE Sports, covering the NBL, WNBL, NBA and Australian senior and junior international and representative teams. @MickRandallHS Michael Randall
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pacers' Johnny Furphy throws down dunk of the Summer League in wild poster over Noa Essengue
The NBA's Summer League in Las Vegas is just getting started, but Johnny Furphy has already laid claim to what should easily go down as the dunk of the event. Furphy, after weaving his way up the court in the second quarter of the Indiana Pacers' matchup with the Bulls, cocked back and threw down a wild one-handed slam over Chicago rookie Noa Essengue on Monday afternoon at Cox Pavillion in Las Vegas. The replay and photos that came out of it were somehow even better. Essengue was taken by the Bulls took out of France with the No. 12 overall pick in the draft earlier this summer. He didn't stand a chance on the play. Advertisement Furphy is fresh off his rookie season in the league last season with the Pacers, who he helped reach the NBA Finals. After being selected with the No. 35 overall pick out of Kansas in the 2024 NBA Draft, Furphy averaged just shy of eight minutes per game last season for the Pacers. He averaged 14.3 points in the 10 games he played with their G League affiliate, too. Furphy had 11 points at halftime on Monday night. He finished with 15 points and shot 5-of-9 from the field in the Pacers' 114-105 loss to the Bulls. Essengue finished with 21 points for Chicago. While there is plenty of time left for someone to go after the 'Dunk of the Summer League' title, Furphy has set the bar incredibly high. That poster, which Essengue somehow already found himself on the wrong side of, is going to be very hard to beat.
News.com.au
15-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Watch: Johnny Furphy's NBA Summer League slam dunk hailed as one of the greatest by an Australian ever
Aussie Indiana Pacer Johnny Furphy has elevated and detonated to produce one of the greatest in-game dunks by an Australian ever. Less than a month after he was part of the Pacers squad that pushed Oklahoma City to seven games in the NBA finals, the 20-year-old Victorian stopped Las Vegas Summer League in its tracks with a jaw-dropping hammer that immediately went viral. With 3.30 left in the second quarter, Furphy rebounded a Chicago miss and took the ball coast-to-coast. Eyeing the basket, Furphy rose, cocked his arm back, hung in the air and crammed the ball down the cylinder in a stunning statement that brought the entire Pacers bench to its feet. The Maribyrnong College product's victim was none other than Bulls 2025 first-round pick Noa Essengue who was immortalised on a Furphy poster for the world to see. Fellow Aussie Lachy Olbrich, the Illawarra Hawks NBL champion selected with pick No.55 in this year's draft, had the best seat in the house to the nasty dunk, trailing behind Furphy as he yammed it on his teammates noggin'. What an insane poster by Johnny Furphy 😳 — Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) July 15, 2025 — Nathan | LFC | Jackjumpers (@grubbavitch) July 14, 2025 The effort sent NBA Twitter into overdrive and had many wondering if an Australian had ever produced a dunk that matched it. Pacers franchise player Tyrese Haliburton couldn't hide his approval: 'Johnny MF Furphy sheeeeeesh', the injured star wrote on X. 'Your favorite players favorite player,' he added. Johnny MF Furphy sheeeeeesh🤯 — Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) July 14, 2025 Your favorite players favorite player — Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) July 14, 2025 The 35th pick in the 2024 NBA draft is no one-trick pony, either, his 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists 2 steals and 2 blocks filling the stat sheet, despite the Bulls' 114-105 win. Marty Clark, Furphy's coach at the NBA Global Academy, recently told Code Sports he expected the young gun to develop into an Olympian – after once not making the top state team for Victoria. 'He was in the U20 B team for Victoria when I first saw him and the first thing we thought was 'who's that and why haven't we seen him before?',' Clarke recalls of Furphy. 'He just stood out. Long, athletic, straight line, played hard.' He said the 206cm Furphy drew comparisons to the likes of Joe Ingles and Brad Newley. 'I guess (he's) similar in Joe's capability at that size with maybe Brad Newley's athleticism, and you even think Andrew (Gaze), that big guard, and no one's comparing them to Andrew yet, but just the physical tools. 'I think that's where some people underestimate (his) sheer size.'
