who is this?

[Duke1]

hey, I've blanked out on who this is on the left of the pic. can anyone tell me?

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

hey, I've blanked out on who this is on the left of the pic. can anyone tell me?

Ricky Price?

[Class of '94]

hey, I've blanked out on who this is on the left of the pic. can anyone tell me?

I think it is Ricky Price.....

[Newton_14]

Ricky Price?

That is my guess as well. I think it is Ricky.

[jgehtland]

Talk about high hopes that just didn't quite pan out....Ricky had hops, a sweet stroke, and a good handle. Just never put it all together, and then the suspension really hurt. Loved me some Ricky back in the day, though.

[K>Roy]

Agree with all of the above. My first thought was Ricky Price.

[dukeblue1206]

Yeah that is Ricky Price. I will always remember him for the buzzer beating game winner he hit at Maryland!!!

[oldnavy]

Yep that is Ricky Price, just a little more filled out than he was in his playing days.

[Duke1]

Thanks everybody!

[BD80]

I am pleased to see Ricky is "back" in the Duke family. I recall a time when he was playing overseas and there was pressure on him to get his degree so we could hang banners from his senior year. It seemed to me he was estranged from the program.

I remember Ricky has having great "bounce." Not just great height on his jump, but he could get up quickly in traffic and from a flatfooted stance (leaning into a player while boxing out). Of course, my memory may have added slightly to his prowess.

I would put Ricky up there with Maggette and Dahntay in the Pantheon of Duke skywalkers. Gerald is probably on the list. Marty Nessley isn't.

Could use some help in recalling the best of the flyers and the most vertically challeged.

[Smitty1911]

Could use some help in recalling the best of the flyers and the most vertically challeged.

Can't leave this guy off your list...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbIxFvMmcmc

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

Could use some help in recalling the best of the flyers and the most vertically challeged.

Robert Brickey ...high flyer 1986-90.

[BD80]

Robert Brickey ...high flyer 1986-90.

Definitely belongs on the list. I still think we would have won the NC in 1989 in Seattle if those slimey 30-something Aussies playing for Seton Hall hadn't undercut Brick. They may not have meant to hurt him as badly as they did, but they certainly wanted him to know they wouldn't allow him to continuously fly over top of them. It was a dirty play and it was intentional.

I guess we should throw Grant on the list too?

[jdj4duke]

Could use some help in recalling the best of the flyers and the most vertically challeged.

Flyer? Brickey. He could even make me jump out of my chair.
Challenged? Randy Denton. He tripped on the foul line once.

[brickey]

Robert Brickey ...high flyer 1986-90.

As you'd probably guess, I whole heartedly agree. Truth be told, Brickey was the tipping point in my becoming a Duke fan--a precursor, it turned out, to my enrolling there as a student many years later.

In addition to four noted earlier (Grant, Brickey, Phil, and Ricky), my list of high flyers would definitely include Maggette, Gerald, and Dante, and I seem to remember one Carmen Wallace getting up pretty high on a few occasions.

My gut says our history of high flyers seems runs deeper than this, so please remind me who else I've missed.

If anyone has the ability/time to locate or create a montage video of the guys we've mentioned so far, I'm sure all here (me, especially) would be ever so thankful.


One thought about Grant....while he was no doubt sensational in the air --one could argue Duke's best all-time-- I think most of his remarkable dunks (e.g. the alley-oop vs. UK), shot-blocks, and rebounds were as much a product of superior body control, timing, awareness, and hand-eye coordination as they were his leaping ability. Admittedly this is an odd analogy, but I liken him to Scheyer in this way, with twice Jon's hops.

[brickey]

My honorable mentions:

JWill (relative to his height, of course)
McBobs
MP
MP2
Bad@ss
Reggie Love
Olek

Still feel like I'm forgetting some.

[jdj4duke]

My honorable mentions:

Still feel like I'm forgetting some.

If only for one play- Phil Henderson over Alonzo Mourning. Maybe the second best statement making Duke dunk ever, behind Grant's in the Kansas championship game.

[oldnavy]

If only for one play- Phil Henderson over Alonzo Mourning. Maybe the second best statement making Duke dunk ever, behind Grant's in the Kansas championship game.

Or Gerald's dunk in the Maryland game two years ago after the hard pick on Nolan. That was just sic!

Here is one that nobody will agree with, Marty Pocius. That kid could sky. Granted I only got to see it during warm ups, but he was getting up as high if not higher than either Olek or Henderson.

[jdj4duke]

Or Gerald's dunk in the Maryland game two years ago after the hard pick on Nolan. That was just sic!

Oh heck yeah. Spectacular "shut your mouth" play. Still great to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckLHEUkNOgE

[airowe]

Miles Plumlee probably has the highest vertical of any of the players mentioned but Brickey stands out to me as the biggest in-game leaper of the bunch.

[BD80]

Or Gerald's dunk in the Maryland game two years ago after the hard pick on Nolan. That was just sic!

Here is one that nobody will agree with, Marty Pocius. That kid could sky. Granted I only got to see it during warm ups, but he was getting up as high if not higher than either Olek or Henderson.

In summer pick up games, Horvath once dunked with his toes ...

I'll nominate Jay Bilas for the list, if only to make him smile if he reads this.

Rickey Price
Robert Brickey
Jay Bilas
Grant Hill
Dahntay Jones
Phil Henderson
Corey Maggette
Gerald Henderson
Olek Czyz
Miles Plumlee

[Orange&BlackSheep]

I can't believe we don't have Johnny Dawkins on this list. The dude dunked over David Robinson. Obviously he is a little shorter than some of the others mentioned, but I bet his vertical is very comparable to theirs.

[brickey]

I can't believe we don't have Johnny Dawkins on this list. The dude dunked over David Robinson. Obviously he is a little shorter than some of the others mentioned, but I bet his vertical is very comparable to theirs.

An egregious omission. Check out the dunks at ~0:42 and ~2:48 in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8_fb1zIVgI.

[oldnavy]

I can't believe we don't have Johnny Dawkins on this list. The dude dunked over David Robinson. Obviously he is a little shorter than some of the others mentioned, but I bet his vertical is very comparable to theirs.

WOW, you are correct. I remember watching him during warm ups of his first game at Duke. The student section was all electric when JD would get both arms up above the rim about to his elbows and then just drop the ball in.

How could we forget JD??

[jkidd31]

Anyone remember a dunk that Thomas Hill had I think over Iowa in the second round of the '91 tournament?

[BD80]

Apparently we need to also consider Elliot Williams, who was measured with a 48" vertical, as reported in the story linked on the front page!

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/07/blazers_elliot_williams_tantal.html

[MChambers]

Thomas Hill would have to be on the list, as would Johnny Dawkins.

[gus]

not a star nor even a starter, but Carmen Wallace could jump.