College Slam Dunk Contest 2015: Winner, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

Few college basketball fans likely knew of Delta State's LaQuavius Cotton before Thursday night, but the Statesmen senior guard made a name for himself in Indianapolis, taking home the College Slam Dunk Contest title.

Cotton took out Green Bay Phoenix guard Keifer Sykes to capture the championship belt, per the event's Twitter account:

Although Cotton and his competitors put on a good show throughout, many fans will likely only remember the missed dunks. There's no question that the final round became a bit anticlimactic after Sykes wrapped up to open the proceedings.

Using Gonzaga's Kevin Pangos for the assist, Sykes attempted to collect the ball and transfer it between his legs for the slam. After that failed, he tried for a windmill jam from the baseline that missed on both tries.

With that, Sykes didn't register a dunk for the round and finished with an 18.

Cotton struggled a bit as well, with his between-the-legs 360-degree dunk attempt missing the mark as well. Knowing that he needed to complete just one slam, he eventually settled for a more conventional windmill for the win.

It's hard to argue that Cotton wasn't the best dunker of the night, though. He stole the show in the semifinal round with two incredible dunks, the first a left-handed throwdown over Butler Bulldogs guard Alex Barlow and the second a nifty left-handed jam in which he seemed to hang in the air forever.

ESPN posted a few photos from those two dunks:

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Delta State's LaQuavius Cotton is the 2015 #CollegeSLAM winner. pic.twitter.com/t7luE3X80b

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) April 3, 2015"

Rich Nye of WTHR 13 in Indianapolis captured Cotton's first dunk, which was all the more impressive since he neither needed to push off Barlow's shoulders nor required Barlow to duck in order to clear him:

ScoutsFocus provided a Vine of the second semifinal slam:

Sykes' early-round performance shouldn't be forgotten, either. Standing at only 6'0", he was at a bit of a disadvantage compared to the 6'6" Cotton.

However, he showed in the first round that he could elevate with the best of them. Sykes delivered an impressive right-handed windmill:

It's tough to tell in that video just how high he jumped, so Phil DeCastro of Fox 11 News in Green Bay, Wisconsin, made sure to highlight where Sykes was relative to the rim at the peak of his jump:

Letting the negatives from Thursday outweigh the positives would be easy to do, but that wouldn't do justice to the eight dunkers who took part. They delivered a handful of impressive jams, and Cotton in particular put himself on the radar for a large segment of fans who had no idea who he was entering the competition.

Who knows, Cotton's seemingly unlimited athleticism might get him a few looks from NBA teams come draft time.