Top 5 MU players with the highest vert?

[Amal Sh00k Up]

Shannon Smith anyone?  His claim to fame: stuffed Jordan on a dunk back in the day.

[Jockey]

Artie Green's leaping ability was off the charts.

Hank used him for the opening tip, and he'd often have Artie line up as the inside rebounder on FTs. Lots of alley-oops, too.

Green was listed at 6-2, BTW.

Rivers could sky, too.

Oh, and I literally laughed out loud at "Ners." Thanks!

Artie's vertical and his shooting range were very similar - about 40".

[LloydsLegs]

He flopped in two sports, one could say.

👏👏👏

[MuggsyB]

I believe the highest recorded vert from an NBA player was either Spud Webb or David Thompson .  Both were 48.  Although Earl Mannigult allegedly had a 50 and was called for 3 secs in the air.  However, humans are pretty average on the animal vert scale. 

[MU82]

He flopped in two sports, one could say.

Bravo.

[war1980rior]

I saw a photo of Jerome Whitehead grabbing a rebound over Magic Johnson.  Jerome's feet were waist high on Magic (who is 6'8"?).

Pretty impressive air for a 6'11" man!

[romey]

I believe the highest recorded vert from an NBA player was either Spud Webb or David Thompson .  Both were 48.  Although Earl Mannigult allegedly had a 50 and was called for 3 secs in the air.  However, humans are pretty average on the animal vert scale.

Good call on Thompson.  I remember the hype (wll desreved) when Warriors played them in the final four.

If this is true (Wilt with a 48" that is incredible)

https://olympic.ca/2021/01/20/where-are-they-now-jayna-hefford/

[BrewCity83]

Legend had it that Artie Green could pick a quarter off of the top of a backboard.  Never saw that stunt, but that cat could really jump outta the gym.

[StillAWarrior]

Legend had it that Artie Green could pick a quarter off of the top of a backboard.  Never saw that stunt, but that cat could really jump outta the gym.

I recall hearing the same thing about David Thompson.

[willie warrior]

Davante?

Good one. But only with Artie on his shoulders

[Gato78]

Legend had it that Artie Green could pick a quarter off of the top of a backboard.  Never saw that stunt, but that cat could really jump outta the gym.

Al McGuire said this about Chones and McNeil, ie: that they could "...take a quarter off the top of the backboard and leave change."

[oldwarrior81]

The standing vertical measurement is basically used to emulate jumping off two feet for a rebound.  The max vertical usually is applied to more of a running dunk or drive to the basket.

any standing vertical over 40" is pretty amazing.   Running max vertical is usually 6-7" higher, and that's where a lot of these 40+ numbers are coming from.

The top of a pro backboard is 13 feet.   Wilt had a standing reach of over 9 feet.   I'd guess with a running start he possibly could have reached the top of the backboard.  Kareem said he tried and never could.  If 6-2 Artie could get up to 13'3" or so he'd need a vertical over 50.  His entire head would need to be above the rim.

The first I guy I heard the grab a quarter off the backboard about was Connie Hawkins.   But his legend was that he could grab a quarter off the top of the backboard and leave change on the way down.

Michael Wilson, although from Memphis he is not the former MU player, played with the Globetrotters and during an event dunked on a 12' rim.  That came from the Chamberlain claim that he dunked on a 12-footer during college.  That hoop was supposedly a leftover from Coach Phog Allen's suggestion to the NCAA to replace the 10' with 12'

[StillAWarrior]

The standing vertical measurement is basically used to emulate jumping off two feet for a rebound.  The max vertical usually is applied to more of a running dunk or drive to the basket.

any standing vertical over 40" is pretty amazing.   Running max vertical is usually 6-7" higher, and that's where a lot of these 40+ numbers are coming from.

The top of a pro backboard is 13 feet.   Wilt had a standing reach of over 9 feet.   I'd guess with a running start he possibly could have reached the top of the backboard.  Kareem said he tried and never could.  If 6-2 Artie could get up to 13'3" or so he'd need a vertical over 50.  His entire head would need to be above the rim.

The first I guy I heard the grab a quarter off the backboard about was Connie Hawkins.   But his legend was that he could grab a quarter off the top of the backboard and leave change on the way down.

Michael Wilson, although from Memphis he is not the former MU player, played with the Globetrotters and during an event dunked on a 12' rim.  That came from the Chamberlain claim that he dunked on a 12-footer during college.  That hoop was supposedly a leftover from Coach Phog Allen's suggestion to the NCAA to replace the 10' with 12'

There's a Cuban volleyball player - Leonel Marshall, Jr. - who supposedly has a 50' vertical (although I suspect that's running, not standing - or what they call "spike touch" in VB as opposed to "block touch"). He is 6'5" and they say he can touch just shy of 13'.

If you like volleyball - and athleticism -- there are some pretty good videos of  him.

[StillAWarrior]

This article/video purports to show a documented touch of the top of the backboard by a guy named Kirpatrick "Stretch" McCauley. It also mentions that some of the people rumored to be able to touch the top denied it. Among the NBA players discussed, only Dwight Howard claimed he could do it, but apparently, "When ESPN tried to setup a time to document this miracle with Dwight and the Magic it never happened."

I'm not entirely convinced by the video. It's honestly hard to tell what is going on. On the still photo a little farther down the page, it kind of looks like the bell is hanging a couple inches below the top of the backboard. Also, if that pole isn't plum, that could take some height off the touch. I can't help but wonder why he didn't just touch the top of the backboard instead of that bell.


Updated: Another video of McCauley on a different day shows he's actually touching about 12'9".  A hell of a vertical...but not 13'.

[GooooMarquette]

Herb Harrison might have gotten the highest.

Zack McCall says hi.

[4everwarriors]

Herb Harrison might have gotten the highest.

Talkin' hops here, doe, hey?

[GooooMarquette]

Talkin' hops here, doe, hey?

Hops, grass - they're all just plants, ai'na?

[rocket surgeon]

always fun to watch little guys jumpin outta their shoes.  i don't recall when dunking became legal in high school, but prior to that,  hearing that someone could dunk was like urban legend.  every once in a while, during warm ups, the one(s) who could dunk would first look around for the refs, then throw one down. the 70's version of "trash talkin".  freaked the opposing teams out

  we had a guy(white)on our team who tried to impress the coach's daughter by dunking a baseball.  he promptly failed and broke the glass backboard.  they did end up getting married a few years later however.  believe it or not, he was one of the best athletes in our school at that time.  my point is, dunking has come a long way. 

[MuggsyB]

The standing vertical measurement is basically used to emulate jumping off two feet for a rebound.  The max vertical usually is applied to more of a running dunk or drive to the basket.

any standing vertical over 40" is pretty amazing.   Running max vertical is usually 6-7" higher, and that's where a lot of these 40+ numbers are coming from.

The top of a pro backboard is 13 feet.   Wilt had a standing reach of over 9 feet.   I'd guess with a running start he possibly could have reached the top of the backboard.  Kareem said he tried and never could.  If 6-2 Artie could get up to 13'3" or so he'd need a vertical over 50.  His entire head would need to be above the rim.

The first I guy I heard the grab a quarter off the backboard about was Connie Hawkins.   But his legend was that he could grab a quarter off the top of the backboard and leave change on the way down.

Michael Wilson, although from Memphis he is not the former MU player, played with the Globetrotters and during an event dunked on a 12' rim.  That came from the Chamberlain claim that he dunked on a 12-footer during college.  That hoop was supposedly a leftover from Coach Phog Allen's suggestion to the NCAA to replace the 10' with 12'

Good info oldwarrior. 

[seakm4]

I remember Mbakwe broke his nose on the backboard his senior year of HS, but those knee injuries didn't let us see any of that vert.

[Galway Eagle]

I remember Mbakwe broke his nose on the backboard his senior year of HS, but those knee injuries didn't let us see any of that vert.

I heard his nose broke the backboard before it even hit.

[Knight Commission]

Is there a reason why Wally Ellenson's name has not been called?

This from a 2015 article:

"Ellenson doesn't know his vertical jump, but it has to be impressive. He can touch the backboard 2 feet above the rim and can take off from the free-throw line and dunk, a la Michael Jordan. As a freshman at Minnesota, his teammates called him the "Kangaroo Kid" and the nickname stuck. It's his Twitter handle."

[The Sultan]

Is there a reason why Wally Ellenson's name has not been mentioned?

Because we are only talking about basketball players.

[wadesworld]

Is there a reason why Wally Ellenson's name has not been called?

This from a 2015 article:

"Ellenson doesn't know his vertical jump, but it has to be impressive. He can touch the backboard 2 feet above the rim and can take off from the free-throw line and dunk, a la Michael Jordan. As a freshman at Minnesota, his teammates called him the "Kangaroo Kid" and the nickname stuck. It's his Twitter handle."

Mainly because his name has been called by multiple posters.

Wally E must have had a pretty decent one.

Off the top of my head I would have to say wally

Many of us have had some fun talking about Wally. And he wasn't very good at basketball. But you know what? You're right. The guy could sky!

[Eye]

I'd have to do some serious digging to find exactly what he did, but do recall WE doing some things in a HS game of his I covered that I declared I thought he'd be a future dunk contest winner someday.