The dunk is what many view as a symbol of athletic prowess in basketball. Few plays in basketball cause such a reaction as a beautifully orchestrated alley-oop, a fastbreak slam or a “poster” dunk on an opposing player. They may only be worth two points, but dunks can swing momentum, quieting an opposing crowd as well as cause a home crowd to erupt. Not surprisingly, players who typically play closer to the basket tend to amass the most dunks. DeAndre Jordan led the league in the regular season at 245 (nearly 3 per game), accounting for just over 70% of his total field goals. Some others who averaged over 2 dunks per game include Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Anthony Davis.

In this list of 100 college players, you will not see a single player that averaged 2 dunks per contest. This could be due to the tighter college game, though recent talents Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Anthony Davis all managed over 2 per contest in their final (or only) college season. Louisville returnee Montrezl Harrell was the only college player this season who broke the 2 per game plateau, with 88 total dunks. The list of current NBA Draft hopefuls gives a glimpse of how often they threw down this year. Indeed, the players who played closer to the basket are amongst the leaders. Size seems to play a part, though athleticism and strength, as well as ball handling also help in creating dunk opportunities.

While we may not have players who are going to be getting more than a couple dunks per game on average, there could be a number joining the NBA dunk leaders. Jabari Parker certainly has the size, strength and ability that should translate to his getting a high number of throw downs. Aaron Gordon should absolutely benefit from a more wide open court. Certainly, Andrew Wiggins could join the “100 dunk club” if he adds strength and is given the minutes, opportunities most expect for him in his NBA transition. The player who seems destined to average at least a couple per game at some point is Joel Embiid, who upon a hopefully healthy return from injury, seems destined to be an absolute post nightmare.

This list was gathered from the play-by-play statistics at Statsheet.com, who note that not all games have play-by-play data and there can be occasional errors. While this list may not be perfect, it gives an idea of who was dunking the most and how often. Unfortunately, due to lack of data, the list is missing potential draftees DeAndre Daniels, Melvin Ejim and DeAndre Kane. Dunks are not necessarily an “official statistic” and you can take from this what you will, though it is certainly fun to see who had the most out of these potential draftees. Listed are the number of dunks, number of games played and the average per game. Found some surprises among the leaders, plus maybe a possible debate into what these numbers mean and how they could translate to the next level. For NBA dunk numbers since the 2000-01 season, check the “Shooting” charts on player profiles at www.basketball-reference.com.

Total Dunks

1. Cory Jefferson, PF: 66 (38 games, 1.73 per game)
2. Jabari Parker, SF/PF: 60 (35, 1.71)
3. KJ McDaniels, SF: 59 (36, 1.63)
4. Ronald Roberts, PF: 57 (32, 1.78)
5. Aaron Gordon, PF: 55 (35, 1.44)
6. Sim Bhullar, C: 52 (30, 1.73)
7. Alex Kirk, C: 46 (32, 1.43)
t-8. Shawn Jones, PF: 44 (33, 1.33)
t-8. Richard Solomon, PF: 44 (30, 1.46)
10. Juvonte Reddic, PF: 43 (35, 1.22)
t-11. Khem Birch, PF: 42 (33, 1.27)
t-11. Aaric Murray, C: 42 (34, 1.24)
13. Jordan Bachynski, C: 41 (33, 1.24)
14. Adreian Payne, PF: 38 (31, 1.22)
t-15. Javon McCrea, PF: 37 (29, 1.27)
t-15. Julius Randle, PF: 37 (40, 0.92)
17. Ovie Soko, PF: 36 (30, 1.2)
18. James McAdoo, PF: 35 (34, 1.02)
19. Cameron Bairstow, PF: 34 (34, 1.0)
t-20. Glenn Robinson III, SF: 33 (37, 0.89)
t-20. JaKarr Sampson, SF: 33 (33, 1.0)
t-20. Andrew Wiggins, SF: 33 (35, 0.94)
t-20. TJ Warren, SF: 33 (35, 0.94)
t-24. Casey Prather, SF: 32 (37, 0.86)
t-24. Kyle Casey, PF: 32 (32, 1.0)
t-24. Talib Zanna, PF: 32 (35, 0.91)
t-27. Josh Huestis, SF: 30 (36, 0.83)
t-27. Shayne Whittington, PF/C: 30 (31, 0.96)
t-27. Joel Embiid, C: 30 (28, 1.07)
t-30. Nick Johnson, SG: 28 (38, 0.73)
t-30. Jerami Grant, SF/PF: 28 (32, 0.87)
32. Isaiah Austin, PF/C: 27 (38, 0.71)
t-33. Isaiah Armwood, PF: 26 (33, 0.78)
t-33. Patric Young, PF/C: 26 (39, 0.66)
t-33. Daniel Miller, C: 26 (33, 0.78)
t-36. Markel Brown, SG: 25 (34, 0.73)
t-36. Justin Jackson Cinci, PF: 25 (34, 0.73)
t-36. Jordan Morgan, PF: 25 (37, 0.67)
t-36. Jarnell Stokes, PF: 25 (37, 0.67)
t-40. Elfrid Payton, PG: 24 (35, 0.68)
t-40. Noah Vonleh, PF: 24 (30, 0.8)
42. Omar Oraby, C: 23 (32, 0.71)
t-43. Gary Harris, SG: 22 (35, 0.62)
t-43. Dwight Powell, PF: 22 (36, 0.61)
t-45. Zach LaVine, PG/SG: 21 (37, 0.56)
t-45. Tarik Black, C: 21 (33, 0.63)
t-47. Kendrick Perry, PG: 20 (32, 0.62)
t-47. Orlando Sanchez, PF: 20 (32, 0.62)
t-47. Johnny OBryant, PF/C: 20 (34, 0.58)
t-47. Sam Dower, PF/C: 20 (34, 0.58)
51. James Young, SG/SF: 19 (40, 0.47)
t-52. Will Sheehey, SF: 18 (31, 0.58)
t-52. Cleanthony Early, SF: 18 (36, 0.5)
54. CJ Fair, SF: 16 (34, 0.47)
t-55. Deonte Burton , PG: 15 (32, 0.46)
t-55. Walt Lemon, PG: 15 (32, 0.46)
t-55. Austin Hollins, SG: 15 (38, 0.39)
t-55. Jordan McRae, SG: 15 (37, 0.4)
t-55. Rodney Hood, SF: 15 (35, 0.42)
t-60. Nik Stauskas, SG: 14 (36, 0.38)
t-60. Taylor Braun, SG/SF: 14 (32, 0.43)
t-60. Roscoe Smith, PF: 14 (31, 0.45)
63. Marcus Smart, PG/SG: 13 (31, 0.41)
t-64. Cameron Clark, SF: 12 (33, 0.36)
t-64. Mike Moser, PF: 12 (34, 0.35)
t-64. Brendan Lane, PF: 12 (30, 0.4)
t-67. Semaj Christon, PG: 11 (34, 0.32)
t-67. Kendall Williams, PG: 11 (34, 0.32)
t-67. Jamil Wilson, SF: 11 (32, 0.34)
t-67. Alec Brown, PF/C: 11 (30, 0.36)
t-71. Devin Oliver, SF: 10 (37, 0.27)
t-71. Eric Moreland, PF/C: 10 (20, 0.5)
t-73. Joe Jackson, PG: 9 (34, 0.26)
t-73. Bryce Cotton, PG: 9 (35, 0.25)
t-73. Keith Appling, PG: 9 (35, 0.25)
t-73. Jordan Clarkson, PG/SG: 9 (35, 0.25)
t-73. Doug McDermott, SF: 9 (35, 0.25)
t-73. Devon Collier, SF/PF: 9 (30, 0.3)
t-79. Russ Smith, PG/SG: 8 (37, 0.21)
t-79. Drew Crawford, SG: 8 (32, 0.25)
t-79. Lamar Patterson, SG/SF: 8 (36, 0.22)
t-79. CJ Wilcox, SG: 8 (32, 0.25)
t-79. Jerrelle Benimon, PF: 8 (36, 0.22)
t-79. Jabari Brown, SG: 8 (35, 0.22)
t-85. Isaiah Sykes, SF: 7 (30, 0.23)
t-85. Kyle Anderson, SF: 7 (36, 0.19)
t-87. Roy Devyn Marble, SG: 5 (33, 0.15)
t-87. LaQuinton Ross, SF/PF: 5 (35, 0.14)
t-89. Spencer Dinwiddie, PG/SG: 4 (17, 0.23)
t-89. Jahii Carson, PG: 4 (33, 0.12)
t-89. Sean Kilpatrick, SG: 4 (34, 0.11)
t-89. Mitch McGary, PF/C: 4 (8, 0.5)
93. Justin Cobbs, PG: 3 (35, 0.08)
t-94. Tyler Ennis: 2 (34, 0.05)
t-94. Fuquan Edwin: 2 (29, 0.06)
96. Joe Harris: 1 (37, 0.02)
t-97. Shabazz Napier: 0 (40)
t-97. Aaron Craft: 0 (35)
t-97. Xavier Thames: 0 (36)
t-97. Jordan Adams: 0 (36)

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