The Aztec Recreation Center hosted its “ARC ‘til Dark” on Sunday, attracting incoming students to eat free pizza, watch martial arts demos and play games. Part of the evening’s events included the ARC’s 2012 Slam Dunk Contest.
Socially awkward freshmen outfitted in their newly purchased SDSU garb packed into the ARC’s basketball stadium, filling the bleachers to the brim, lining up around the courts and straining their necks for what they apparently perceived as equivalent to the NBA finals.
Amateur players were invited to compete for free ARC memberships by performing their most dazzling dunks. Associated Students President Rob O’Keefe, A.S. Vice President Chanelle McNutt and San Diego State basketball players Jamaal Franklin and DeShawn Stephens judged the contest.
“I’m going to go over some rules on how we’ll be scoring,” O’Keefe said at the start of the competition. “We’re going to be judging dunks on a 1-10 scale, and that’s it.”
The host, who was, with infallible fashion sense, wearing a tuxedo T-shirt under a sport coat, pumped up the crowd of overeager residence hall dwellers before calling up the first competitor.
The dunk-a-thon began slowly. Each entrant was allotted 30 seconds to successfully dunk the ball with as much flair as possible. There were between 10 and 15 competitors in the first round, with few successful in impressing the judges. A score higher than five was a rare occurrence.
Fast forward two rounds. Only four players were left in the competition. The fans were getting rowdy, although it might have just been their freshman giddiness from not having a bedtime anymore.
As Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot” blared throughout the ARC, the competition’s shortest competitor, Dante Burnett, missed three times trying to throw down a behind-the-back alley-oop to himself, but still managed a decent score. He removed his shirt shortly after.
“You’re beautiful, Dante!” yelled an excited young bystander through a plastic cone.
However, no matter how Burnett tried, he failed to overcome Campbell High School’s Tali Matemore. Overbearingly tall, Matemore rarely missed a dunk and consistently scored seven or more, despite his fear of heights.
In the end, Matemore won with a 360-spin dunk after bouncing the ball off the backboard, winning three free months of ARC membership. Burnett came in second, winning two free months.
“They all ball out in their own special way,” McNutt said after the competition ended. “Everyone’s a winner.”
