Houston's Taze Moore Wins 2022 College Slam Dunk Contest
Houston's Taze Moore now owns the crown of college basketball's best dunker after winning the 2022 College Slam Dunk Championship at Xavier University of Louisiana’s Convocation Center in New Orleans on Thursday.
Moore beat Wake Forest's Alondes Williams in the final. He earned perfect scores of 40 on each of his last three dunks to take home the championship belt.
On Moore's final dunk, he jumped over someone, caught a lob from the opposite side of the basket and threw it down. Williams put in a dunk off the side of the backboard that lacked flair because he was focused on completing the attempt before time ran out.
The semifinals were absolute insanity with highlight-reel dunks one after the other. Moore and Williams were joined by Grand Canyon's Sean Miller-Moore and New Orleans' Derek St. Hilaire. St. Hilaire was the only one not to earn a perfect score on any of his dunks.
Moore opened things up in the semifinals by paying homage to Vince Carter with his honey dip dunk. He wore Carter's vintage Toronto Raptors jersey and got the dunk in on the first try, making it look easy while he hung on the rim.
But Williams ignited the crowd with a mind-blowing back-scratch windmill dunk. Yes, you read that correctly. He pumped the ball over his head and touched his back before bringing it around for the windmill and throwing it down.
Miller-Moore said his second dunk was dedicated to his friend that passed away in a car accident. He effortlessly dropped a between-the-legs two-handed reverse.
Moore upped the ante with his second semifinal dunk, putting it off the backboard twice before throwing it down.
Williams answered immediately with a 360 one-handed scoop dunk off the bounce.
Miller-Moore tried to keep pace with a between-the-legs dunk off the stanchion, but he didn't make it on his first three attempts. He put it down on the fourth and the players appealed to the judges to let it count, but they had to abide by the rules.
Miller-Moore earned the only perfect score of the first round with an impressive between-the-legs dunk off the bounce.
