When I interviewed Melvin Levett for my 2016 book, “Inside the Crosstown Shootout,” I took the opportunity to ask him about his game-winning dunk against Duke in the Great Alaska Shootout. I talked to Ryan Fletcher this week to ask him about his role in one of the most iconic plays in UC basketball history.
By Bill Koch
If you’ve been to Fifth Third Arena to watch a UC basketball game in the last decade or so, you’ve probably seen the moment replayed on the video board before the game.
The dunk by Melvin Levett with one second remaining off a feed from Kenyon Martin to give UC a 77-75 victory over No. 1 Duke on Nov. 28, 1998, in the championship game of the Great Alaska Shootout, is one of the most famous plays in UC basketball history.
The Bearcats had practiced the game-winning play often, but it had never worked the way it was supposed to. Maybe it was because the defense knew it was coming or maybe it was simply because it was a difficult play to execute. Ryan Fletcher had to throw the inbounds pass to Kenyon Martin, who would be standing just above the foul line at the other end of the court. Martin then had to dump a pass to the cutting Levett, who would lay the ball in the basket, assuming that he had eluded his defender.
“That thing never worked,” Levett said. “Sometimes Ken would catch it and he’d throw it and it would go in front of me too far or I’d be running too fast and it would go behind me. Sometimes Fletch would throw the ball completely out of bounds.”
But for some reason, Levett said, the players believed it would work this time when UC coach Bob Huggins called it during a timeout with four seconds to play.
“Everyone was like, OK, let’s get in position,” he said.
It was more like a football pass play than a basketball play, which worked to the Bearcats’ advantage. Fletcher had been a quarterback at Middetown (Ohio) High School. Levett was a star wide receiver at St. Joseph High School in Cleveland.
“When we came out of the huddle, I said, ‘Mel, come out like you’re going to catch it. I’m going to look you off and throw it deep,’” Fletcher said. “That was the way the play was supposed to be drawn up. Worst-case scenario, Ken goes one-on-one against Elton Brand.”
Levett was being guarded by Duke’s Trajon Langdon, who had grown up in Anchorage. Fletcher figured that because Langdon was playing in front of his hometown fans he might be a little too eager to steal the inbounds pass and take it in for the game-winning layup.
“When I gave the impression that I was going to throw the pass to Mel right from the inbounds, I think Langdon jumped it,” Fletcher said. “As soon as he did that, Mel took off."
Levett had been looking forward to playing Duke ever since the schedule came out. The Bearcats, who were ranked 15th, were 3-0 after they beat Southern Utah and Iowa State to reach the tournament final.
“Duke was the prince of college basketball,” Levett said. “You wanted your shot against them to prove how you stack up. Trajon Langdon was regarded as one of the top guards in the nation. I had hopes and aspirations of going to the next level. I knew if Melvin Levett was going to be noticed, I was going to have to take advantage of what I could do against him. I put that guy’s picture in my locker when we found out we were going to the Great Alaska Shootout.”
In order for the play to work, Levett said, he had to figure a way to shake Langdon. He couldn’t just take off down the floor and hope for the best. So he sprinted five steps after the official handed the ball to Fletcher. Then he stopped. When Langdon stopped too, Levett took off.
So far, so good. Now it was up to Fletcher to get the ball to Martin.
“Shane Battier is over the top of me, so I have to make sure that he doesn’t tip it,” Fletcher said. “If I throw it wrong, he tips it and they win the game, or if I throw it out of bounds or if I throw it and it gets deflected somehow.
“When I threw it, I was thinking, don’t hit the scoreboard, because they had a big scoreboard hanging down in the middle of the arena. Once it went under that, I felt pretty good about it. I remember seeing Ken jump up and catch it and then I saw Melvin flying through the air. Then I saw him jumping around and waving his arms, and I thought, well, that worked out. It felt pretty good.”
After he secured the pass from Martin, Levett had no doubt that he was going to dunk it.
“When you watch Ken getting ready to catch the ball, look how far Trajon Langdon is behind me,” Levett said. “He’s lost. He had no chance of catching up, not even to try to grab my jersey for an intentional late foul or even to try to get to the ball. At that point, I was like I cannot believe this is happening. I didn’t miss many, if any dunks in my career, so there was no, ‘Mel, make sure you put this in.’ There was no doubt that the ball was going in. It was how hard I was going to dunk it.”
Even after the dunk, the Bearcats still faced some anxious moments. With one second on the clock,the Blue Devils, looking for their own magic moment, threw an inbounds pass to Brand, who was being guarded by Fletcher. As the two fought for the ball, it was tipped away. Fletcher isn’t sure if he tipped it, if Brand tipped it, or if they both touched it.
What he does know is that “William Avery caught it. He flung it up and it went in.” Fortunately for the Bearcats, Avery had released his desperation shot too late. The officials ruled that time had expired. Levett finished with 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting to lead the Bearcats.
The following week the Bearcats rose to No. 6 in the Associated Press poll and would reach as high as No. 3 that season. They finished 27-6, won the Conference USA regular-season championship, and beat George Mason in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before they were upset by Temple in the second round.
But they’ll always have the memory of knocking off top-ranked Duke in such spectacular fashion.
“It’s one of those moments that you wish for as an athlete,” Levett said, “one of those 5-4-3-2-1 moments that you play over and over in your mind when you’re a kid in the backyard or in the park, taking that last shot.”
The win over Duke was the fifth time in school history that the Bearcats had knocked off a top-ranked team. The others were against Duquesne in 1954, Kansas State in 1959, and Ohio State in both the 1961 and 1962 national championship games. The Bearcats have played two top-ranked teams since then – losing to Illinois, 67-45, on Dec. 31, 2004; and to Kentucky, 64-51, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on March 21, 2015.
By Bill Koch
If you’ve been to Fifth Third Arena to watch a UC basketball game in the last decade or so, you’ve probably seen the moment replayed on the video board before the game.
The dunk by Melvin Levett with one second remaining off a feed from Kenyon Martin to give UC a 77-75 victory over No. 1 Duke on Nov. 28, 1998, in the championship game of the Great Alaska Shootout, is one of the most famous plays in UC basketball history.
The Bearcats had practiced the game-winning play often, but it had never worked the way it was supposed to. Maybe it was because the defense knew it was coming or maybe it was simply because it was a difficult play to execute. Ryan Fletcher had to throw the inbounds pass to Kenyon Martin, who would be standing just above the foul line at the other end of the court. Martin then had to dump a pass to the cutting Levett, who would lay the ball in the basket, assuming that he had eluded his defender.
“That thing never worked,” Levett said. “Sometimes Ken would catch it and he’d throw it and it would go in front of me too far or I’d be running too fast and it would go behind me. Sometimes Fletch would throw the ball completely out of bounds.”
But for some reason, Levett said, the players believed it would work this time when UC coach Bob Huggins called it during a timeout with four seconds to play.
“Everyone was like, OK, let’s get in position,” he said.
It was more like a football pass play than a basketball play, which worked to the Bearcats’ advantage. Fletcher had been a quarterback at Middetown (Ohio) High School. Levett was a star wide receiver at St. Joseph High School in Cleveland.
“When we came out of the huddle, I said, ‘Mel, come out like you’re going to catch it. I’m going to look you off and throw it deep,’” Fletcher said. “That was the way the play was supposed to be drawn up. Worst-case scenario, Ken goes one-on-one against Elton Brand.”
Levett was being guarded by Duke’s Trajon Langdon, who had grown up in Anchorage. Fletcher figured that because Langdon was playing in front of his hometown fans he might be a little too eager to steal the inbounds pass and take it in for the game-winning layup.
“When I gave the impression that I was going to throw the pass to Mel right from the inbounds, I think Langdon jumped it,” Fletcher said. “As soon as he did that, Mel took off."
Levett had been looking forward to playing Duke ever since the schedule came out. The Bearcats, who were ranked 15th, were 3-0 after they beat Southern Utah and Iowa State to reach the tournament final.
“Duke was the prince of college basketball,” Levett said. “You wanted your shot against them to prove how you stack up. Trajon Langdon was regarded as one of the top guards in the nation. I had hopes and aspirations of going to the next level. I knew if Melvin Levett was going to be noticed, I was going to have to take advantage of what I could do against him. I put that guy’s picture in my locker when we found out we were going to the Great Alaska Shootout.”
In order for the play to work, Levett said, he had to figure a way to shake Langdon. He couldn’t just take off down the floor and hope for the best. So he sprinted five steps after the official handed the ball to Fletcher. Then he stopped. When Langdon stopped too, Levett took off.
So far, so good. Now it was up to Fletcher to get the ball to Martin.
“Shane Battier is over the top of me, so I have to make sure that he doesn’t tip it,” Fletcher said. “If I throw it wrong, he tips it and they win the game, or if I throw it out of bounds or if I throw it and it gets deflected somehow.
“When I threw it, I was thinking, don’t hit the scoreboard, because they had a big scoreboard hanging down in the middle of the arena. Once it went under that, I felt pretty good about it. I remember seeing Ken jump up and catch it and then I saw Melvin flying through the air. Then I saw him jumping around and waving his arms, and I thought, well, that worked out. It felt pretty good.”
After he secured the pass from Martin, Levett had no doubt that he was going to dunk it.
“When you watch Ken getting ready to catch the ball, look how far Trajon Langdon is behind me,” Levett said. “He’s lost. He had no chance of catching up, not even to try to grab my jersey for an intentional late foul or even to try to get to the ball. At that point, I was like I cannot believe this is happening. I didn’t miss many, if any dunks in my career, so there was no, ‘Mel, make sure you put this in.’ There was no doubt that the ball was going in. It was how hard I was going to dunk it.”
Even after the dunk, the Bearcats still faced some anxious moments. With one second on the clock,the Blue Devils, looking for their own magic moment, threw an inbounds pass to Brand, who was being guarded by Fletcher. As the two fought for the ball, it was tipped away. Fletcher isn’t sure if he tipped it, if Brand tipped it, or if they both touched it.
What he does know is that “William Avery caught it. He flung it up and it went in.” Fortunately for the Bearcats, Avery had released his desperation shot too late. The officials ruled that time had expired. Levett finished with 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting to lead the Bearcats.
The following week the Bearcats rose to No. 6 in the Associated Press poll and would reach as high as No. 3 that season. They finished 27-6, won the Conference USA regular-season championship, and beat George Mason in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before they were upset by Temple in the second round.
But they’ll always have the memory of knocking off top-ranked Duke in such spectacular fashion.
“It’s one of those moments that you wish for as an athlete,” Levett said, “one of those 5-4-3-2-1 moments that you play over and over in your mind when you’re a kid in the backyard or in the park, taking that last shot.”
The win over Duke was the fifth time in school history that the Bearcats had knocked off a top-ranked team. The others were against Duquesne in 1954, Kansas State in 1959, and Ohio State in both the 1961 and 1962 national championship games. The Bearcats have played two top-ranked teams since then – losing to Illinois, 67-45, on Dec. 31, 2004; and to Kentucky, 64-51, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on March 21, 2015.
Comments
Post a Comment