Boost Mobile Elite24 Competition Comes to Venice

On Friday, 24 of the nation’s top high school basketball recruits gathered at Venice Beach to kick off the Boost Mobile Elite24 competition with the skills and dunk competitions.

Kyle Anderson came out on top of the skills competition, and Shaquille Johnson took home the top prize, the slam dunk title.

“It feels amazing to win this. There are a lot of great players here, and to even be a part of this is just great,” Johnson said.

The event started off with the skills contest, which is very similar to that of the NBA all-star weekend.  The player needed to score a layup, dribble through obstacles, hit a pass, make a three, and dribble back and finish a layup to finish the course.

Four players took part, and the two that made the finals were Kyle Anderson and Marcus Paige. Paige was the favorite coming in, having placed 2nd in the vertical challenge and winning the lateral quickness challenge the day before. However, Anderson ran a perfect run in the finals, beating every obstacle on the first try on his way to a winning time of 24 seconds.

In front of a star studded crowd at the Venice Beach basketball courts, including ESPN analyst Jay Williams, NBA stars Tyreke Evans and Brandon Jennings, the two-time defending scoring champion Kevin Durant, and Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx, the players then competed in a slam dunk contest.

The crowd got hyped for Derrick Williams, who made a special appearance in the contest. Williams was a star forward at the University of Arizona, and was the #2 pick in this year’s draft, going to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He threw down an impressive dunk, catching a pass off the side of the backboard then throwing down a windmill, earning a perfect 40.

Johnson was up next, and the man who many thought would be the favorite did not disappoint. Johnson has become somewhat of a YouTube celebrity, with several impressive dunk videos, and Johnson showed why he got that reputation, doing a 360-degree windmill dunk that few in the NBA can pull off. He also earned a perfect 40.

Four players advanced to the semi-finals, including Williams and Johnson. Another player who wowed the crowd was Savon Goodman, who caught a pass off the backboard and threw down a windmill jam. Williams tried to pull out all the stops, attempting a between the legs dunk off the backboard. After four failed attempts, Williams bowed out of the competition.

Johnson came out and managed to one up his previous dunk, jumping over a crowd member that appeared to be at least 6’9.  The entire crowd, including the celebrity judging panel, got on their feet, and showed Johnson their appreciation, earning him another 40.

“That was really cool. It’s tough to get the crowd into it, but I knew if I hit that they would get on their feet,” Johnson said.

Goodman, who has committed to play at Villanova next year, knew he would have to pull out something impressive in the final to beat Johnson, and he was unable to successfully complete a dunk, failing to get a catch and in between the legs dunk down.

Johnson stepped up, and on his second attempt, successfully completed a left handed between the legs dunk, earning him his third perfect score of 40, and giving the future Auburn Tiger forward the silver shoe trophy.

The players will now rest up and get ready for their all-star game Saturday, tipped off at 4 p.m. and was broadcast on ESPNU.