25-Year-Old Dunk

23Mar09

 

The Wall Street Journal has revealed exclusive footage of the First college women’s hoops dunk from 25 years ago. 

How come nobody has seen this footage? Because the opposing coach, Charleston’s Bud Francis, who created the tape, didn’t want anyone to see his team get dunked on. West Virginia’s 6-foot-7 junior, Georgeann Wells could be seen throwing down an inspiring dunk after her dismal first half performance in Charlestons’ 110 – 82 drubbing.

But in the long run, breaking bad news is a far more favorable option to concealing it. What if that tape of Wells’ dunk had been revealed 25 years ago? 

I doubt coach Francis had a marketing team to consult with before making his decision to hide it in a shoe box, but the implications are enormous. If coach Bud Francis promoted the dunk and properly delivered the news in a controlled manner then who knows what could have happened then Georgeann could have been the official Dunkin’ Donuts spokesperson today. 

We see time and again athletes losing endorsement deals for this exact reason. Corporations do not want their brand names perceived as dodgy and mismanaged in the public eye.

Women’s basketball hadn’t reached its stride until a decade after that 1984 Slam. Coach Francis had the opportunity to single-handedly ascend the game he loved years ahead of The WNBA’s establishment in 1997.

Making the dunk even more memorable is since then only three WNBA players and five women college players have dunked in a game. It’s a great story, but the wall street journal is the only one who wins from a 25-year-old tape.

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