COLUMBUS, Oh. (WTVF) — One Fly, We All Fly.
It’s the pregame dunk ritual sweeping the nation. And it all started with Tennessee.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Tennessee guard Lamonte Turner said. “It kind of blew up over night, it seemed like.”
The pregame dunking display will be on display once again about 15 minutes before tip off of Sunday’s second round NCAA Tournament game against Iowa at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
Its a tradition that started a couple years ago when Admiral Schofield would jump in celebration whenever former Vol Robert Hubbs got a breakaway dunk.
“When he jumped, I jumped and it just felt like I was with him at the rim,” Schofield said. “It was pretty cool. We just started doing it on the bench and it was something exciting for us.”
It expanded to a pregame hype routine with a designated dunker becoming the center of attention while the entire team jumps around him.
“We try to check the energy of the team and see where everybody is at,” Turner said. “It gives everybody a chance to let all the excitement out.”
And in January a tweet by the hoops handle “Overtime” sent the routine viral.
Now the dunk routine is everywhere.
Other Tennessee sports have gotten in on the action, as have Murray State superstar Ja Morant and Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat.
“Colgate actually did it after us (Friday in round one,” Turner said. “So it’s like, ‘wow’, you know, ‘we really started something’.”
It’s often imitated, but, at least to the original creators, never duplicated.
“Ja Morant’s dunks are pretty cool,” Schofield admitted. “But I don’t think anybody does it as well as we do it.”
And the Vols will continue to fly together as long as their NCAA Tournament run lasts.
“It’s our thing, it’s Tennessee’s thing,” Turner said. “It’s something we started and it’s something we’re going to keep doing.”
