March 29, 2006
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Wake Forest senior guard Justin Gray will compete against some of the nation's top shooters Thursday night in the College Basketball 3-Point Shooting Championship. The three-point contest for both men and women and the slam dunk contest will be televised by ESPN Thursday at 9 p.m. from Butler University's Hinkle Field House.
Gray ranks second in Wake Forest history and seventh in Atlantic Coast Conference history with 319 career three-point field goals. Gray made more than 90 three-point field goals in each of his final three seasons as a Demon Deacon, including 95 in 2005-06, ranking second in the ACC behind Duke's J.J. Redick.
Gray will face a strong field of shooters Thursday night. Illinois' Dee Brown and West Virginia's Kevin Pittsnogle, both key players in two of Wake's most painful defeats in the 2004-05 season, are in the competition. Brown and Illinois bumped Wake Forest from its first No. 1 national ranking, while Pittsnogle helped the Mountaineers upset the Deacons in the second round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
Also in the three-point contest will be Keydran Clark of St. Peter's, Marquette's Steve Novak, Iowa's Jeff Horner and Butler's Bruce Horan, who will be competing on his home court.
Gray is the second Demon Deacon to participate in the contest in as many years. Taron Downey advanced to the semifinal round last year. In 2001, Antwan Scott participated in the dunk contest.
This year's dunk artists include Maurice Ager of Michigan State, local Indianapolis product Rodney Carney of Memphis, Vincent Grier of Minnesota, Errol Knight of Gonzaga, David Noel of North Carolina, James White of Cincinnati, Elgrace Wilborn of Western Kentucky and Lawrence Wright of Bradley.
On the women's side, the 3-point shooters will include Nikki Blue of UCLA, Lindsay Bowen of Michigan State, Megan Duffy of Notre Dame, Erin Grant of Texas Tech, Tamara James of the University of Miami, Julie Larsen of Utah and Cappie Pondexter of Rutgers.
In all, there will be twenty-four players participating in the three events. Past contestants have included NBA stars Gary Payton, Steve Nash, Damon Stoudamire, Eddie Jones, Luke Jackson, Nick Van Exel and 2004 NBA Slam Dunk champion, Freddie Jones.
Among the celebrity judges for the slam dunk competition will be Indianapolis Colts Pro Bowl LB Cato June and Indiana high school legend, Bobby Plump, who took Milan High School to the 1954 state championship and who was immortalized on screen as Jimmy Chitwood in the classic 1986 film, "Hoosiers."
The show's on-air team will include ESPN announcers, Brad Nessler, Steve Lavin, Jimmy Dykes and Erin Andrews.
Tickets for the live event are $10 for adults and $8 for students or those under 18 and can be bought at ticketmaster.com, by calling 317.239.5151, or by visiting a Ticketmaster outlet. Tickets may also be purchased at the Clowes Box Office Monday through Friday, 10:00am-5:00pm, and on Saturday, 10:00am-2:00pm. The Box Office is located inside the main entrance of Clowes Memorial Hall at 4602 Sunset Avenue, on the Butler campus.
