In honor of the month of February, ASOR presents ‘SLAM’uary. Via a single-elimination tournament, we will decide which dunk is the best in Liberty Men’s Basketball history. There are eight total contestants, all from different eras of Liberty Basketball. Without further ado, here are the first-round matchups. Check below to see how you can vote!
John Dawson vs Anthony Smith
After transferring from Marquette, John Dawson made a huge impact in jumpstarting the Liberty Men’s Basketball program. A two-time Big South honorable mention honoree, Dawson averaged 13.4 ppg and 8.5 ppg in his two seasons at Liberty. Dawson’s ferocious throw-down against Radford in 2017 is what lands him in this contest.
Anthony Smith was a part of the first Ritchie McKay stint at Liberty. He averaged 13.7 ppg in his four-year career as a Flame and averaged double figures every year except his freshman season. In 2008, Smith was the only player in the nation to attempt at least 200 three-point field goals and succeed on at least 50 percent of his field-goal attempts (51.5) and 40 percent of his three-point field goal attempts (41.0). Smith’s impressive windmill dunk earns him a spot in the contest.
John Brown vs Scottie James
Brown only played one season for the Flames (2010-11) but made it count. He averaged a double-double in his lone season with Liberty, with 11.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, earning him second-team All-Big South honors. Brown came in clutch with a putback dunk to beat the buzzer at Charleston Southern in 2011. That game-winner earns him a spot in our tournament.
Scottie James is a more recent Liberty Basketball alumni, as the forward graduated just last year. James was a beast at Liberty, averaging 12.3 points throughout his career as a Flame, including 8.3 rebounds. James is 17th on Liberty’s all-time scoring list and 4th on the all-time rebounds list. James is a two-time All-ASUN selection, was the ASUN tournament MVP in 2019, and was named to the All-ASUN decade team. Scottie’s violent putback dunk against Maryland Eastern Shore last season puts him in contention for this contest.
Tim Scarborough vs Caleb Homesley
There might not be a person more involved with Liberty Basketball than Tim Scarborough. Coming to Liberty as a walk-on, Scar, averaged 11.3 points per game, including 3.1 assists per game his senior season. A few years after graduating, Scarborough served as an assistant coach under head coach Jeff Meyer seeing two different teams play in Big South Championships. Scarborough also worked as a basketball analyst for LFSN for 11 years, and currently serves as an analyst for Stadium. Scarborough’s breakaway slam against ETSU puts him in the tournament.
Caleb Homesley is one of the greatest players in Liberty Men’s Basketball history. As a Flame, Homesley finished his career with 1,539 points, 703 rebounds, 306 assists, 122 steals, and 78 blocks. During his time at Liberty, he was named to the ASUN First-Team All-Conference in 2019 and 2020, the ASUN All-Tournament Team in 2019 and 2020, the ASUN Tournament MVP in 2020, and the ASUN Player of the Year in 2020. He was also recently named to the ASUN All-Decade team. He ranks 10th on Liberty’s all-time scoring list and 8th on the school’s all-time rebounding list. While Homesley had many impressive dunks at Liberty, there may not be a more significant one than his backdoor slam on Mississippi State in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Elijah Cuffee vs Andrew Smith
Andrew Smith was a renowned dunker while at Liberty. The living highlight reel registered 730 career points and 558 career rebounds as a Flame. Smith played a vital role in The Flame’s run to winning the 2013 Big South Championship and had 7 points, four rebounds, two blocks, and one steal in Liberty’s First Four game against North Carolina A&T. Smith’s poster on VMI in 2014 makes him a contestant in ‘SLAM’uary.
Elijah Cuffee is the only player in this contest that is currently playing basketball for the Flames. Cuffee has played in 126 career games for the Flames and has played more games than any other active college player in the nation. Each season that Cuffee has been a part of the team, the Flames have advanced to their conference championship game and have participated in a postseason tournament. Cuffee was named ASUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and is currently averaging 10 points per game this season. Cuffee’s jam against Navy last season gets him a spot in the tournament.
These matchups will be going live on our Instagram beginning Wednesday, January 10th. You can vote on each matchup in the comments!
