McDonald's All-American week in Louisville officially kicked off Monday with the Powerade Jam Fest featuring the Slam Dunk Contest and Three-Point Shootout at Bellarmine University's Knights Hall.
As usual the Shootout played Robin to the Dunk Contest's Batman.
Billy Donovan signee Nick Calathes posted the high score of the competition with 23, but he was ousted by a single point in the finals by Georgetown bound (damnit) Chris Wright.
Probable UK signee Jai Lucas and former Rose Hill Christian star O.J. Mayo also competed in the contest, but both failed to advance to the finals, posting scores of 16 and 15 respectively.
First Round Results:
Nick Calathes (Florida)- 23
Chris Wright (Georgetown)- 20
Corey Stokes (Villanova)- 19
Jai Lucas (Undecided...Kentucky)- 16
O.J. Mayo (USC)- 15
Kyle Singler (Duke)- 14
Eric Gordon (Indiana)- 13
Taylor King (Duke)- 13
Final Round Results:
Chris Wright (Georgetown)- 21
Nick Calathes (Florida)- 20
In the always boring Team Ball Competition, Nolan Smith (damnit) teamed with Cetera DeGraffenreid to take home the title.
Arguably the loudest ovation of the night came when the judges for the Slam Dunk COmpetition were introduced. The score givers were: WNBA player (I'm told) Shanna Zolman, Bill Walton, Darrell Griffith, Kenny Walker and Denny Crum.
The field for the contest, which inexplicably did not include include Mayo, consisted of:
Donte Greene (Syracuse)
Austin Freeman (Georgetown)
Blake Griffin (Oklahoma)
Patrick Patterson (Undecided...Donovan)
Jerryd Bayless (Arizona)
Michael Beasley (Kansas State)
Freeman, Beasley (who vowed to win the competition earlier in the day on ESPN Radio Louisville 1670) and Griffin advanced to the finals with scores of 90, 91 and 92 respectively.
Patterson (who was introduced as Patrick "Peterson" earlier in the night) was unimpressive in the opening round.
Griffin and Beasley both posted perfect 50's on their opening attempt, but Griffin's less impressive second dunk earned him just enough to beat out Beasley for the title.
Dr. Dunkenstein left unimpressed: "There was not a lot of creativity out there. Everybody wants to throw the ball in the air."
The Powerade Jam Fest will air on ESPN Wednesday night at 7, and will be followed by live coverage of the McDonald's All-American game from Freedom Hall.