Who says white men can’t
jump?
Jesse Williams, the
reigning world high jump champion, is just a shade over 6 feet tall, but he
proved to be quite the dunk artist in a friendly competition at the Oregon-Cal
basketball game Sunday in Eugene, Ore.
Williams, 28, took on
former Oregon football and basketball star Jordan Kent and put down two
impressive slams. First, he dunked one handed, earning a rousing hand from
Ducks fans. Then he stripped down to his track singlet, got the crowd clapping
in rhythm and approached the basket.
Williams, who has a best
of 7-feet-9¼ inches in the high jump, took the ball from an assistant as he ran
toward the basket and was perfect on a reverse dunk.
“Normally, I just jump,”
Williams said afterward. “But today I had a ball in my hand and tried to put on
a little show.”
That he did. Now, his next project is winning a berth on the US team for the 2012 Olympics in London.
