A.J. Merriweather Shines, but Rodney Pryor Wins College Slam Dunk Contest 2017

Remember the NBA Slam Dunk Contest? You know, the one that left us feeling a little underwhelmed? Well, East Tennessee State's A.J. Merriweather raised the bar all by his lonesome Thursday night, putting on a jaw-dropping performance at the 2017 College Slam Dunk Championships.

Unfortunately, it was not enough to win.

Georgetown's Rodney Pryor took home the championship belt after Merriweather was unable to complete his final-round dunk. Pryor went between his legs off the bounce in the first dunk, putting the pressure on Merriweather to again steal the show.

Bringing out an air traffic controller to "clear" him for landing, Merriweather appeared to have just the right thing in mind. The execution just wasn't there. Merriweather missed two throw attempts at the rim after botching his first toss and then couldn't complete a last-ditch effort dunk as time expired.

It was a disappointing end to what was otherwise a show-stealing performance. Merriweather earned perfect scores of 40 on each of his first three dunks, breezing his way to the final as chants of "A.J." rang across the gym.

Marcus Brooks of WXBQ was highly impressed with Merriweather's efforts:

Merriweather's early attempts saw him do a double-clutch reverse, taking off from the side of the hoop and cradling the ball nearly to his feet before bringing it back in for a jam. He later had a windmill that nearly saw him take off too far from the basket before barely slamming it home—and that wouldn't be the only time he nearly injured himself dunking.

Merriweather also went flailing to the ground on an off-the-bounce windmill, dunking so hard he fell backward. 

ESPN's Jay Williams provided some in-arena highlights from Merriweather:

Pryor, meanwhile, made things look almost too easy. His effortless gliding dunks didn't quite bring the house down in the same way as Merriweather, but they were consistently stellar. Things like 360-degree spins made it seem like he was on cruise control:

In fact, Pryor only made it to the finals by 0.9 points. His second-round score of 90.9 barely beat out Tyler Flack of South Dakota, who had an impressive first-round dunk and solid third dunk. However, Flack's attempt to create a special moment wound up backfiring on the scoreboard.

Flack's first attempt of the second round (second overall) saw him first try to take the ball out of a young man's prosthetic leg and then dunk. After two missed attempts, Flack settled for a standard dunk.

Steven Davis of Wright State went out with an injury in the second round. Davis came up stiff after sitting between the first and second rounds. 

Vitto Brown (Wisconsin), Antonius Cleveland (Southeast Missouri State), Garland Owens (Boston College) and Paul Watson (Fresno State) also participated but were eliminated in the first round.