We decided there should be an award added to the list for Pac-12 Men’s Basketball: Dunker of the Year. If there were such an award, the crown would have been given to Pac-12 Dunk King Rawle Alkins.
Dunking is not new to Arizona Basketball guard Rawle Alkins, but last weekend, the world got their taste of his Brooklyn grit after he posterized USC’s Elijah Steward in the Pac-12 Tournament Championship game.
The funeral lasted longer than the 24-hour news cycle and included comments from the likes of Liangelo Ball, Andre Drummond, and UCLA Bruins. Kris Wilkes was watching the game, and he Snapped the dunk with his reaction, it was priceless.
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Alkins announced his commitment during a live spot on ESPNU. He set the tone for his college career at Arizona, “I don’t want to be one of those freshmen on the bench cheering, I want to be one of those impact freshmen you guys talk about.”
After his exclamation point dunk that started the momentum change in the 2018 Pac-12 Tournament Championship game, he got his wish.Every single sports outlet posted a tweet with the dunk video. Bleacher Reports caption was “Caught a body.” The Tweet has been liked over 44,700 times and been retweeted 16,600 so far. The Dunk made SportCenter’s top 10 at number four, should have been No. 1 but hey, there are politics over there at ESPN.
CAUGHT A BODY. pic.twitter.com/jbBPxyyZWM
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 11, 2018
Playing in the Tournament Championship game was Alkins second rodeo, and he struggled a bit on scoring. Alkins played some intense defense and Miller needed him in to disrupt the opponent. He prides himself on being a versatile player, so when his shot wasn’t working he pushed ahead on defense. Against UCLA in the Semis, Alkins missed a few dunks but he drew fouls on both attempts. The desired result, a dunk to turn the game around, would have to wait for USC.
Rawle spoke with the media post game, and he asked his teammates which dunk was better, the dunk against Stewart or the reverse dunk against Oregon State University? Allonzo Trier and Deandre Ayton felt it was the Stewart poster because of the importance of the game. “He needa go to jail for that.” said Ayton. You be the judge.
We did a little research, as we had seen Alkins hit some pretty nasty dunks in the Dunk Contest at the Ballislife All-American Game in 2016. Ironically we stumbled across this gem of a video produced by Ballislife. It’s titled, “Rawle Alkins: #BearDown Beast from the Empire to the #HoopState Official Senior MIxtape.”
In this video, you will see his signature reverse two-handed dunk, the one-handed fall away dunk and the two-handed-ball-behind-his head straight-on slam and more. King Rawle of Brooklyn brought his talents to the desert and the Pac-12. After watching this beauty of a mini-documentary, you will understand how he is so good at dunking on guys and how he’s been working making statement dunks.
Must Read: More on Rawle Alkins from ZZ..
King Rawle of New York! we grant you this new award, the Pac-12 Dunker of the Year (DOY). Thank you for bringing your talents to Tucson. We have so enjoyed your spirit, your courage, your graciousness, your never-give-up-stick-to-it-savage-life attitude, your smiles, your heart and last but not least, your dunks. Bear Down for Life King Rawle!