The dunk you see below, thrown down by rising senior hoops uber-recruit Aaron Gordon, would have been absolutely sensational if it came during a dunk contest. The fact that it came during what may have been the most fancied summer scrimmage of the year might just push it toward the top in the pantheon of great dunks from recent years.
The event was the Under Armour Elite 24 event, a Venice Beach, Calif., outdoor showcase which showcases most of the nation's top prep basketball prospects. In 2011, the likes of Aquille Carr and Mitch McGary tore up the court (not to mention a backboard) and earned major buzz throughout the pre basketball ranks.
The 2012 incarnation of the event will forever more be known as the Gordon slam edition of the Elite 24.
As seen above, rather than try to go around a defender, Gordon went through his legs and off the backboard, finishing with a flourish to send an absolute charge through the rapt crowd.
Eventually, Gordon was one of four players to win one of the tournament's MVP awards after finishing with 25 points and seven rebounds in his squad's 164-138 win, a showcase that featured the kind of matador defense usually reserved for the NBA All-Star game. Yet, for one play, a couple opponents tried to man up Gordon. They just picked the wrong play -- or perhaps wrong prospect -- to try and keep away from the rim.
Whether or not the San Jose (Calif.) Archbishop Mitty star can live up to the hype that his breakout summer has built up remains to be seen. Gordon is being recruited by Kentucky, Kansas, Stanford, Cal, Arizona and just about every other top program in the country.
In the Elite 24, he clearly showed that his athleticism alone might justify most of that attention on its own.
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