Fans Crown Norfolk State Player's Tomahawk Slam As Undisputed Dunk of the Year

Take a bow, Christian Ings.
Christian Ings during Norfolk State's 67–52 loss to No. 1 Tennessee on Dec. 31, 2024.
Christian Ings during Norfolk State's 67–52 loss to No. 1 Tennessee on Dec. 31, 2024. / Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Here are some facts about Norfolk State guard Christian Ings: he's a Philadelphia native, he started his career at Rider and on Monday he may have given college basketball its dunk of the year.

With 18.4 seconds left in the Spartans' game against Morgan State and his team leading 67–60, Ings found himself with an open lane to the basket. Stunning his home crowd, Ings took to the air and threw down a vicious tomahawk jam more impressive than most NBA fare.

Video of the dunk aired on SportsCenter and went viral on numerous social media sites, winning wide acclaim from fans.

Viewers found themselves defaulting to superlatives to describe it.

Ings, who stands just six-foot-two, will have a great story to tell.

The wider NBA world took notice...

...as did the wider college basketball world.

In at least one case, the dunk led to a laugh at a blue blood's expense.


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .