History of The Alley-oop
Al Tucker and his brother Gerald at Oklahoma Baptist University are sometimes credited with being the first to use the alley-oop in the mid-1960s. Some others credit David Thompson as the first player to execute the classic alley-oop play while at North Carolina State University, with his teammates Monte Towe and Tim Stoddard performing the necessary lob passes. NCSU's Thompson popularized the play during the early 1970s, exploiting his 44-inch vertical leap to make the above-the-rim play a recurring staple in the Wolfpack's offensive attack. Because dunking was illegal in college basketball at that time, upon catching the pass, Thompson would simply drop the ball through the hoop – never dunking one until the final play of the final home game of his career.
In 1976, dunking once again was allowed in NCAA games, and the alley-oop became associated in the late 1970's with Michigan State Spartan's Magic Johnson and Greg Kelser. The duo connected for many highlight alley oops and would showcase the play in their 1979 National Championship run, including the most watched game in the history of the sport, the famed Magic vs. Bird championship game.
During the 1990s, NBA stars turned the alley-oop into the game's ultimate quick strike weapon. North Carolina State also won a national championship on what could be considered the most famous alley-oop of all time against the University of Houston. With time running out and the score tied in the 1983 championship game in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Dereck Whittenburg shot short of the rim, which effectively functioned as a pass to Lorenzo Charles, who caught the ball and stuffed it through the net to win the title.
In recent years, teams have often run the alley-oop as a planned play. The 2008 National Champions Kansas Jayhawks had several designs for alley-oops, including some thrown from inbound sets, and could execute them interchangeably with almost all of the players being able to both lob and finish the play.
Read more about this topic: Alley-oop (basketball)
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