The Great Northwest has become a hot-bed for big time basketball players in recent years. After all, the states of Washington and Oregon have produced true ballers like Kevin Love, Kyle Singler, Terrence Jones, and more currently Class of 2011’s Tony Wroten Jr, who is headed to the University of Washington to play his college ball next season.
But Andy Avgi may be the newest athlete to make some noise on the West Coast, albeit for some of the wrong reasons. Last week in a game against Putnam HS, the senior forward for Woodburn HS and 2 time Oregon All State Selection shattered the backboard on a break-away dunk, which is note-worthy in itself. But what he did afterwards is what has made his feat all the more Youtube-worthy.
Coincidentally on the same court in which Kevin Love once shattered the glass back in 2007, Avgi, who stands at an imposing 6’6 and 240 lbs, not only destroyed the backboard but added the now classic Vince Carter-esque “It’s Over” sign to the crowd. If you remember, Vinsanity originally gave the sign to the crowd in attendance at after one of his amazing dunks to win the ’00 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Just like Carter’s memorable hand gesture has been a mainstay on Sporstcenter, Avgi’s similar signal has also made it’s way onto ESPN on Sportsnation.
Unfortunately for Avgi, the celebration was a little premature since even though he later in the game threw down a ferocious one-handed alley-oop, his squad ultimately lost the game 62-60 to Putnam. As a junior last season Avgi was a beast, averaging a double-double(21 ppg and 11 rebs) for Woodburn.
Even though his team lost the game, Avgi has recieved some Division I interest in hoops but his real future may lie in football where he also is a stand-out reciever/tight end for Woodburn. On the gridiron, schools like Oregon, Oregon St, Boise St, UCLA, Cal, Washington St, and a few others have already made visits to see him in action.
While at the present time, his future plans are still to be determined, Andy Avgi has had his moment in the spotlight. Let’s hope we see more of him in either sport in the future.
Check out Andy Avgi Shattering the Backboard and Channeling Vince Carter:
Thanks: Pep Rally
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
