Tulsa's DaQuan Jeffries Beats Jordan Davis to Win 2019 College Slam Dunk Contest
April 5, 2019
Tulsa guard/forward DaQuan Jeffries impressed with his power and vertical en route to winning the College Slam Dunk Championship at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Thursday.
Jeffries clearly emerged as the night's best dunker, and you can view his slams below.
In addition, here's a look at the participant list, the round-by-round results and the contest's highlights.
Participants
Northern Colorado G Jordan Davis
Pacific G Roberto Gallinat
Jacksonville State G Jamall Gregory
North Greenville F Roderick Howell
Wisconsin G Khalil Iverson
Tulsa G/F DaQuan Jeffries
Southeastern Louisiana G Marlain Veal
Missouri State G Josh Webster
Results
First Round: Gregory, Jeffries, Veal, Davis and Howell advance
Semifinal: Jeffries and Davis advance
Final: Jeffries over Davis
Highlights
Jacksonville State guard Jamall Gregory kicked the dunking festivities off with a between-the-legs, one-handed slam:
Jeffries then wore his sunglasses at night for his 360-degree dunk:
Both were arguably outdone, however, by charismatic Southeastern Louisiana guard Marlain Veal, who brought creativity back to the dunk contest scene with the "Bug on the Windshield."
Andrew Lopez of the New Orleans Times-Picayune was quite impressed:
Veal, who is 5'9" and 145 pounds, faced a significant size disadvantage entering the contest. Like 5'7" champion Spud Webb in the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, however, it didn't matter (for at least one round).
All three players received perfect 10 scores from the judges. However, this slam dunk contest had a twist, with the fans holding the final vote. Gregory finished with the only perfect 50-point score.
North Greenville forward Roderick Howell and Northern Colorado guard Jordan Davis tied for the fourth and final semifinal spot with a 44.7-point score, so they both advanced.
In the semifinals, Jeffries once again wowed fans with his power and vertical:
He followed that one up by taking flight across the key:
The other competitors mostly struggled. Davis was the exception and advanced with Jeffries.
In the finals, both players struggled to complete a slam before the 60-second time limit. They both did so with seconds remaining, but Jeffries' effort was better received by the judges and fans:
He finished the final round with a score of 45.4, good enough to hoist the trophy.