Friday, November 07, 2003

It didn't happen while I was there.

Just imagine: a Rice basketball player delivering a backboard-shattering dunk. Well, okay, this was during a pre-season dunk contest, but still.

And yes, one good reason why it didn't happen while I was in school there is that the NCAA rules forbade dunks, either during the game or during warm-ups.

Strictly speaking, I did see one dunk when I was there. It was in February 1974, the day that UCLA lost at Notre Dame to break its consecutive win streak after 88 games. The Rice basketball game was to be the regional second-game in the televised college double-header, although it would pale in comparison to the UCLA-ND game, but by the time I got to Autry Court, there had been a power failure. While they were working to restore the electricity, Rice and its opponent were taken off the main court and were allowed to warm up on side courts. After a half-hour or so, Rice's seven-footer ("Whoosher") threw down a massive two-handed dunk, to the delight of the crowd - and since it didn't take place on the court used for the game, it was okay by NCAA rules. Not that it mattered, as ten minutes later they decided they couldn't get the power fixed in time, so they had to postpone the game - and Rice missed its only opportunity to be on TV that year.

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