I know that when I was back in Middle School playing for the 8th grade school team, it was a major accomplishment to touch rim or maybe even slap the backboard on a lay-up, before running up the court to play defense on the other end.
Well, times have definitely changed as we have seen players regularly dunk at a younger age. While current NBA stars like Tyson Chandler, Josh Smith, and Dwight Howard were all reportedly dunking as freshmen in HS, it’s become commonplace for some of the top prospects to be able to throw down as early as 7th or 8th grade.
Two years ago, THD was one of the first sites to run footage of then 14 year old, Canadian born 8th grader Jamar Ergas doing a full 360 jam in live game action.
He, and fellow Class of 2015 elite level prospect Horace Spencer even once engaged in a eye-popping in game dunk off when they were both still not yet enrolled in high school.
Fast forward to the present day and some high flying middle schoolers like MJ Walker and Cody Riley could probably put some of the contestants in the last few lackluster NBA Slam Dunk Contests to shame as they regularly pull of windmills and free throw line dunks in the 1st annual Dunk Dog Dunk Contest, featuring some of the best 8th grade and under prospects in the nation.
Be on the lookout for MJ Walker in the future, as he is already 6’5 and hails from the talent rich Atlanta area, and will be playing this season at Dwight Howard’s old high school, Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy
The players were chosen from this year’s CP3 Rising Stars Camp, and believe it or not, are all in the Class of 2017……..
MJ Walker Wins Unreal Middle School Dunk Contest:
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 has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
