Indiana Basketball: Top five Hoosier dunks since 2000

3.  Justin Smith’s dunk on Louisville

The third dunk on our list is a recent one: Justin Smith’s dunk last season against Louisville.

Smith catches the ball in the half-court on the right-wing being guarded by Jordan Nwora. He sees the help defender is distracted, so Smith calmly hits Nwora with a jab step towards the baseline. Nwora bites. Hard. This leaves Smith with a runway to the rim.

Nwora leaves his poor center to a one-on-one photo session with Smith at the rim. Smith gets nearly eye-level with the rim and holds the ball way up and behind his head before delivering a vicious punch to the basket.

Do I need to describe why this is sick? Smith squeezes out every bit of that elite athleticism on this dunk, and it makes for an extremely memorable play.

2. Victor Oladipo poster versus Kentucky

This dunk gets lost in the wake of the “Wat Shot.” The most thrilling final seconds of an Indiana Basketball game in the last twenty years (maybe ever) have overshadowed the best dunk of Victor Oladipo’s career as a Hoosier.

With just under 10 minutes on the clock and a seven-point lead, Oladipo takes a Cody Zeller screen at the top of the key and hesitates. This causes Michael Kidd-Gilchrist — an elite defender — to pause for just a moment while guarding Oladpio. A moment is all the Hoosier guard needs.

He surges by Kidd-Gilchrist with a clear vendetta on the rim. Terrence Jones tries to slide over to block Oladipo’s shot, but he just dooms himself to the top of the highlight reel. Oladipo cocks the ball back behind his head and rocks the rim with such force that he knocks himself over.

The momentum from this dunk helped propel Indiana to its famous win versus a previously unbeaten Kentucky team that still stands as one of the best teams of all time.