Jacob Tucker from Illinois College won the Denny’s Slam Dunk Championship while Andrew Goudelock from the College of Charleston won the 3-Point Championship this past Thursday in Houston.
Tucker is a 5-10 guard with a 50-inch vertical. Tucker, who is from a small Division III college, was able to participate as the only non-Division I player in the event because he won the Facebook fan vote.
He was clearly one of the fan favorites because he was one of the shortest athletes on the court. After his first ‘between the leg windmill dunk,’ his teammates and fans from Illinois College that made the 17-hour trip went wild.
His second dunk had a sense of uniqueness as his teammate Nathan Kohler bounced the ball off the side of the backboard, and Tucker proceeded to throw it down. This time the entire venue got on its feet and cheered, knowing this small guard was putting on quite a show.
It came down to the final round against UNC Asheville’s John Williams. Tucker’s first two attempts failed, but on his third he did a reverse slam over Kohler, winning the crowd – and the judges – over.
Tucker wasn’t the only individual that won a championship for his small school. Andrew Goudelock, guard from the College of Charleston brought home the 1st place trophy as well.
Goudelock was going against some premiere names in college basketball, such as Jacob Pullen (K-State), Brady Morningstar (University of Kansas) Dwight Hardy (St. John’s) etc. The well-known names didn’t seem to faze Goudelock at all as he was able to stay focused and knock down his 3-pointers.
He shot lights out from the 3-point line and cruised into the championship with a score of 23, the highest of all the participants.
In the championship round Goudelock went against Chris Warren, guard out of Ole Miss. In this round it came down to who was less fatigued and was able to use the proper shooting technique. Luckily for Goudelock, he doesn’t use his legs as much as the other shooters when he shoots.
Chris Warren’s mediocre round just wasn’t enough to hold off Goudelock. Goudelock drained shot after shot and took home the title as champion.
Be sure to watch the National Championship game live from Houston this Monday, 9:00 p.m. EST.
