‘Holy (shoot)’: KU student explains the moment he went viral following Jayhawks dunk
Udoka Azubuike held the iPhone in both hands, watching a replay of his hammer dunk against Oklahoma.
This was about 30 minutes after Kansas’ win, and the funny part was about to come. ESPN replays showed KU freshman Jack Neal — with hands on his head and eyes wide — looking back and forth with his mouth ajar, not believing what he’d just seen.
Azubuike smiled at the fan’s reaction.
“That’s crazy,” he said before laughing. “That’s cool.”
The dunk was the highlight moment of KU’s 87-70 victory over Oklahoma, the exclamation point to an efficient and effective performance by the Jayhawks on their home court.
It also was, well, fun. Though KU had won many games recently with stifling defense, that slow-it-down, grind-it-out style hasn’t always resulted in the most aesthetically pleasing contests.
Which is why Neal’s reaction stood out more.
The freshman from Hutchinson was still catching up on all his text messages and Twitter mentions in the south student section of Allen Fieldhouse a few minutes after KU’s win.
So what did he see on Marcus Garrett’s alley-oop to Azubuike?
“You didn’t really know what was going to happen,” Neal said. “Doke comes out of nowhere, throws it down with a dude completely right in front of him. I just ... geez, it was a monster dunk to me.”
That emotion showed through.
ESPN’s cameras kept going back to Neal. The third shot showed Neal pulling down on his jaw with both hands while watching the Allen Fieldhouse video board replay before he grabbed his hair.
Slowly, he mouthed two now-famous words, “Holy (shoot).”
Neal’s phone blew up right after that. First, someone commented about how good the dunk was. Then others told him they’d seen him on TV.
It was only later that Neal realized he’d been spotted using a curse word ... something that didn’t bother him too much after the fact.
“Why not? Why not?” Neal said with a smile. “Freedom of speech, right?”
The next few hours might determine that.
Already, a friend had jokingly tweeted at Jack’s father, David: “Control your son.” Neal laughed, admitting that was a pretty good one.
“I might get a call later,” he said, talking about his father. “We’ll see.”
ESPN’s analysts loved it. Fran Fraschilla commented on the broadcast, “That young man is now a meme,” before sending out a Twitter call after the game to find Neal’s identity.
Play-by-play man Jason Benetti also gave Neal a shout-out, saying that his reaction would make ESPN’s “SportsCenter” that night.
What led to Neal’s exuberance, though, is actually one reason KU has seemed to thrive in recent weeks.
Azubuike, for his first three years, barely showed any emotion. Coach Bill Self said it was somewhat natural for the center to be an introvert, as even though he had a man’s body, he hadn’t yet become an adult emotionally when he first stepped on campus.
He’s broken out of that shell this year. In recent weeks, Azubuike is often doing the Mutumbo finger wag after blocked shots, and following this particular alley-oop with 1:16 left in the game, he tugged down on his jersey in celebration before screaming out to the crowd.
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Sign upSelf has some extra appreciation for these displays of passion, believing that earlier in Azubuike’s career, the big man often shied away from both conversation and confrontation.
“He’s grown into now he doesn’t care, which is a great thing to see,” Self said. “He’s really grown up a lot since he’s been here.”
Azubuike, himself, credits his more assertive mindset. After losing significant weight this past offseason, he’s now attacking opposing offensive players while taking his game to them.
“I want people to know that, ‘Yeah, I’m a defensive presence. I’m in the paint,’” Azubuike said. “I just try to be aggressive for my team. That kind of helps my team too. That kind of gives my team momentum.”
As for his final dunk Saturday ... Azubuike admitted his yelling released some pent-up frustration. Oklahoma had double-teamed him most of the game, which limited his touches inside.
He praised Garrett for throwing the lob, before saying that it was his turn to go get it.
“I knew that was going to be there,” Azubuike said. “As soon as I dunked it, I just let it all out.”
So did Neal, a likely future business major who gained some quick fame in his hometown and also nationally.
“Just having (Doke) have that energy and that much emotion at the end of a game, especially for this big win,” Neal said, “it’s great to see.”
