Who was the first UK player to dunk in a game?

[the nail at the foul line]

One thing to note, while dunking in games was apparently not done much (if at all) in the early half of the 20th century, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t done outside of games.

I don’t remember exactly where I read this but reportedly players were dunking (or at least trying to dunk) from the very first times goals were hung around the turn of the century. Of course basketballs were bigger than they are today so it would have been more difficult.

This is not understood by the younger people. The old seamless basketballs that were leather were not easy to handle or shoot. Posters are always comparing modern shooters to people that were shooting a much different ball.

 

[ruppcat]

6'2" white boy, and I could dunk my junior year of HS. One or two hands, off one or two feet. But never got one in a real game. It haunts me.

5'11 white boy.....could dunk a flat ball. had to go off two feet but couldn't palm it jumping like that.

 

[JPScott]

The NCAA banned dunking from 1967 - 76. "The ban was intended to limit the dominance of Lew Alcindor, a 7'1 ⅜" UCLA sophomore who led his team to the 1967 NCAA championship."

As for the first UK player to dunk, perhaps it was Bill Spivey? He was certainly the first athletic, legit 7' footer to play for UK. In the 1951 NCAA championship game he had 22 points and 21 rebounds. It's a shame he was forced to leave school and banned for life from the NBA after being implicated in the point shaving scandal. He was never found guilty.

"I feel he would have been one of the top five centers of all-time had he had the chance to mature in the NBA." -- Joe B. Hall

Spivey is the first UK player I know of to have definitely dunked in a game. it was against Kansas in Lexington on December 16, 1950 in a game where Spivey dominated Clyde Lovellette.

UK vs. Kansas 16-DEC-1950

It may have happened prior to that but I haven't seen any claims to that effect.

I should note that reading game stories during that era the word "dunk" included close-in shots so just seeing that in text is not sufficient to say it was a modern dunk as we've come to know it.

I do know that 6-8 Marion Cluggish used to dunk in warmups prior to games in the late 1930's but he never dunked during an actual game.

 

[yoshukai]

6'2" white boy, and I could dunk my junior year of HS. One or two hands, off one or two feet. But never got one in a real game. It haunts me.

Dude , you should have snowbirded.

 

[SemperFiCat]

Dude , you should have snowbirded.

No clue what that is? Move to Florida?

 

[kennyskywalker34]

6'2" white boy, and I could dunk my junior year of HS. One or two hands, off one or two feet. But never got one in a real game. It haunts me.

Same. But I did get one in a game late in Junior year. Fast break absolutely nobody from the opponent was across half court.
I have extremely long arms. That helped me more than leaping. I blocked a lot of guys shots that were taller than me

 

[Soupbean]

6'2" white boy, and I could dunk my junior year of HS. One or two hands, off one or two feet. But never got one in a real game. It haunts me.

You should have taken inbounds after they scored, did a 180 and dribble right at your own basket and tommy hawked one just to get that mark checked off!

 

[Soupbean]

In defense of the "old timers" . . . anybody that could get off the ground enough wearing those shoes gets my respect. They had 1/2 inch of hard rubber with no cushion in those things. I dont know how they could walk after a game.

 

[jedwar]

I could never dunk. Barely touched rim. (Honest man here)