Gist Gonna Get His Dunk On

As reported by the Diamondback this morning and other news sources, now ex-Terp James Gist will participate in this year's DiGiorno College All-Star Game, the most unheralded all-star basketball game on any level because it is for college seniors only, A.K.A. the kids who got left behind.

He'll be playing for the American squad with all your favorite players from Brian Butch to David Padgett. Lining up against him will be Duke's DeMarcus Nelson (very deserving) and Clemson's Cliff Hammonds. The game is on at 6 p.m. on Friday on CSTV, and you know what that means:

No one is going to watch it.

However, the more exciting news is that Gist is also registered for tonight's dunk contest at 9 p.m. on ESPN. You actually should be watching this. It should provide answers to questions we've had throughout Gist's college career, questions like: Can Gist go between the legs? Can he jump from the free throw line?

Actually, the answer to both of those questions is "no" (I say with 99% confidence), but it still should be interesting. Gist is one of my favorite power dunkers. Whenever I see him go for it, he reminds me of Dr. J because he just cruises through the air gracefully but comes down like a freight train:



He'll be going against Will Bullard (TA&M - CC), Patrick Ewing Jr. (G-Town), Brian Randle (Illinois), J.R. Giddens (New Mexico) and Deron Washington (VaTech). I'm not familiar with Giddens or Bullard, and I didn't know that Randle and Ewing were any good at taking it to the hoop like that. Washington, however is definitely someone to watch:



The "Paulus teabag" dunk is one of my favorites ever.

So remember to watch ESPN at 9 tonight and support Gist as he throws it down with the best ... of whoever the NCAA could scrape together.

Go Terp alums!

(Here's more dunks:)