Shabazz Muhammad has left everybody guessing where he will attend college next season. However, nobody was surprised by his dominating performance in the Sprite Jam Fest Slam Dunk Contest.
Muhammad, rated the nation’s top senior prospect by Scout.com, recorded a perfect score of 70 on each of his four dunks, and won the contest, edging Kentucky Wildcats signee Archie Goodwin, UConn women’s signee Breanna Stewart and uncommitted prospect Anthony Bennett.
Guest post from Chris Emaa, Purple Wildcats.com
Muhammad closed out the contest with a one-handed alley-oop slam from outside the free throw line, drawing a ’10’ from each of the seven celebrity judges. However, that was not the dunk that he had originally planned.
“I was going to do the behind-the-back dunk, but Archie(Goodwin) did that; I had it in the back of my mind,” Muhammad told the media after the contest. “I got up there pretty well and put the dunk down. I was pretty excited.”
A large banner inside the University of Chicago Ratner Center displayed photos of Derrick Rose, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and other former McDonald’s All-Americans. Muhammad was reminded of the special opportunity he had to showcase his talents.
“That’s an honor,” he said. “Watching back with Vince Carter in the (2000) All-Star slam dunk contest; you see how high LeBron gets. I’m just so blessed to have the opportunity to show my skills off.”
The 6-foot-5 swingman from Las Vegas is considering offers from Arizona, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Texas A&M, UCLA, UNLV, and USC