As many fans and players will tell you, a dunk can be the most exciting play in basketball. It can energize a crowd, give a team momentum or just flat out impress people.
With Saturday night’s NBA dunk contest in mind, the Star Tribune sports staff has put together a list of some of the best dunkers in the metro area. No doubt there are plenty of players out there who can throw-down, but we’ve narrowed it down to five players who stand out.
Read about them and check them out in action below -- and feel free to tell us your favorites (or dunkers we missed) in the comments section.
UPDATE: We have better video of Lucas Brown and Eric Robertson now uploaded. We also added a sixth dunker -- Ross Travis of Chaska, the second Travis on our list -- after a number of you showed us the light in the comments. There were plenty of other good suggestions in the comments, but Travis seemed to be the most consistent nominee as an omission. So check him out at the bottom!
Jonah Travis, DeLaSalle
Dubbed by DeLaSalle coach Dave Thorson as a “power dunker,” Jonah Travis is a fun player to watch. Although he is 6-6, Travis looks more like a wing player than a post and can attack off the dribble or catch in the lane and flush. The senior seems to prefer dunking with two hands.
DeLaSalle runs a lot of back screens and lobs at the rim in an effort to take advantage of Travis’ explosiveness. His strength is evident to Thorson, who says the work Travis has done in the weight room in past years is paying off.
“He's one of the best I've ever seen at being able to take a hit and still complete the dunk in the air,” Thorson said, adding that Travis can bench over 300 pounds.
Travis is averaging 18 points per game this season for the No. 3, 3A Islanders. He will continue his basketball career at Harvard next season.
Lucas Brown, Roseville
Lucas Brown has a knack for getting to the rim in transition and is a run-the-floor type player. Raiders coach Ted Critchley said Brown combines power with grace and athleticism in his dunks. The Raiders even record how many dunks Brown gets. This season, he’s averaging 3.1 per game.
"He’s the best athlete I’ve ever coached, without a doubt,” Critchley said. “We feed off of what Lucas does. When he gets a dunk early, that kind of sets the tone for the game.”
Brown comes from an athletic family. His dad was a football player and his mother a basketball star at the University of Minnesota. His younger brother is a sophomore guard for the Raiders.
Brown is averaging 18.7 points per game for the No. 8, 4A Raiders. He will play basketball at Wofford next season.
Joe Coleman, Hopkins
Joe Coleman of Hopkins is no doubt a great athlete and one of the best in the state at finishing around the rim. A number of his dunks come in traffic, where he is not afraid to challenge defenders.
The 6-4 Coleman can finish the business end of an alley-oop or dunk on a dish in the lane. His most exciting dunks come in transition or on breakaways, when he can really showcase his athleticism.
“He plays above the rim. At 6-4, that’s pretty good,” Royals coach Ken Novak Jr. said. “He’s a great competitor and can do many things. Dunking is just one of them.”
Coleman is averaging 22 points per game to lead the No. 1, 4A Royals. He will follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Dan, and has signed to play for Tubby Smith’s Gophers next season.
Marquel Curtis, Armstrong
While some players are more flashy and will be a bit more creative in a game, that’s not typically Marquel Curtis' style. He tends to go at the rim strong and dunk quickly, before the defense has a chance to react. At 6-3, the Armstrong standout is a better dunker when he can get running toward the rim in transition.
According to coach Greg Miller, the Falcons have a lob play in their offense specifically to get a dunk for Curtis. Fittingly, it was on an alley-oop from point guard K.J. Bluford that Curtis got a dunk and set the all-time career scoring record at Armstrong.
Curtis is averaging 25.8 points per game for the Falcons. He is currently undecided about where he would like to continue his basketball career, though Miller says he is getting interest from a number of D-I and D-II schools.
Eric Robertson, Wayzata
Despite being the tallest player on the list at 6-7, Eric Robertson isn’t lacking any athleticism and has been dunking since before his freshman year. A long and lanky forward, most of his better dunks come when he is already running toward the rim.
“A lot of times after practice, the guys will hang around and do some dunks, and he really gets off the ground well,” Trojans coach Phil Ward said. “He’s an explosive jumper and can do a variety of [dunks], and he can dunk with either hand.”
According to Ward, the best dunk Robertson has had as a Trojan came in a January game against Lakeville South. In a close game near the end of the first half, Robertson took the ball on the wing, got by the Cougars’ Alex Richter, and hammered it home.
Robertson is the Trojans' leading scorer at 19.6 per game. He is undecided about his future plans for basketball but has gotten some D-I interest.
ROSS TRAVIS, CHASKA
By popular demand from the comments, we have also added a sixth dunker -- the people's choice, Ross Travis of Chaska.
Check out the video to the left or Travis and teammate Jake White. It's some pretty impressive stuff.
A few of the comments from below:
"ROSS TRAVIS from Chaska. How is he not on this list!!!!!!!"
"I have played against Travis ... he is an animal."
"I've got to throw a vote to Ross too -- there is a web gem dunk from him almost every game."
