Frank Johnson dunks during the McDonalds All-American Powerade Jamfest (Photo: Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports)
CHICAGO — Following this year’s NBA dunk contest, the general consensus was that the once exciting event was back.
After Monday’s POWERADE Jam Fest slam dunk contest it was clear that the creative rim-rocking dunks had trickled down to the high school level.
Frank Jackson’s 360-tomahawk dunk in the final round earned him a perfect score of 70 to claim the slam dunk hardware at the Chicago Theatre.
“A couple months ago I thought about it and we always do these dunks after practice,” said Jackson, a combo guard at Lone Peak (Highland, Utah) who is signed to Duke.
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Jackson also made sure to get the crowd involved.
“You’ve gotta get the crowd on your side,” he said. “I guess they liked it and it worked out for the best.”
Jackson beat a group that included Kyle Guy, Josh Jackson and Malik Monk in the finals. Jackson entered the finals with the third-highest qualifying score, but each competitor started with zero.
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In the final, Josh Jackson attempted a dunk over McDonald’s All American girls player Nancy Mulkey, who is the tallest girls player in the country at 6-9. Jackson missed the dunk the first time, although he cleared Mulkey. On the second try, Jackson got over Mulkey, dunked and hung on the rim.
Guy had the final chance to upend Frank Jackson. He sent Kobi Simmons to the balcony and Simmons attempted a pass that Guy picked up on a bounce, but he was unable to connect as the clock ticked.
Malik Monk soars during the dunk contest (Photo: Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports)
