Rookie Terrence Ross, who bolted the Washington Huskies in the spring after his second year of collegiate eligibility, won the NBA Dunk Contest Saturday night in Houston during All-Star Weekend, besting defending champion Jeremy Evans of the Utah Jazz in the championship round on the strength of a 180 wraparound dunk and a through-the-legs jam over a ball boy. Ross earned 58 percent of the public vote in the championship round.
The 6-foot-6 Ross, selected by the Toronto Raptors eighth overall in the draft after averaging 16.4 points per game for the Huskies, jumped over the ball boy, whipped the ball between his legs and threw down a one-handed slam to clinch the victory.
Earlier, in the contest, Ross donned a Vince Carter jersey, took a lob from Portland high school teammate Terrence Jones off the edge of the backboard, spun and slammed home another one-hander.
Ross got off to a great start in the contest in the first round when he earned a perfect score of 50 by whipping the ball around his waist before smacking down a one-hander. The round was judged by former Houston Rockets stars Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Dikembe Mutombo, Rudy Tomjanovich and Yao Ming.
With Washington last year, Ross scored 574 points, ninth most in UW single-season history, and was named first team all Pac-12. He scored 10 or more points in 32 of Washington’s 35 games, including eight games with 20-plus points, and was the key player in Washington claiming the conference’s regular-season championship.
Ross, who left school early along with Tony Wroten, is the second ex-Husky to win the contest. Nate Robinson, who starred at UW from 2003-05, won the contest in 2006 and again in 2009 and 2010. Robinson is the only player to win three.
Ross is averaging 6.4 points per game for the Raptors. He had a career-high 26 points against the Portland Trail Blazers Jan. 2.
