How Wichita State basketball set up highlight-reel alley-oop dunk to Quincy Ballard
It was a peculiar kind of energy that filled the Liacouras Center on Friday night when Quincy Ballard delivered the most impressive athletic feat of his Wichita State basketball career.
There was a tiny eruption from the opposing bench and WSU’s small army of fans who made the road trip to Philadelphia.
But what made the atmosphere so unique was the buzz from the home crowd. Fans in attendance instantly recognized they had witnessed something special when Wichita State’s pogo-stick center used every inch of his vertical and 7-foot wingspan to corral an alley-oop pass that appeared to be sailing behind him and bring it forward — five feet away from the rim — for a one-handed hammer midway through the second half.
It was a single basket in what eventually turned into a 91-85 victory for Temple, but it was a play that will surely be included in highlight reels for years to come.
“He’s an amazing athlete, an amazing player and an amazing shot-blocker,” Temple big man Elijah Gray said of Ballard. “They just threw it up and with that type of player, he just goes up and gets it. Not really much you can do about that one, but just keep playing. It was pretty cool.”
Over the course of his three-year career at WSU, Ballard has had a lot of dunks — 86 to be exact, the fifth-most ever in the program behind Antoine Carr (163), Xavier McDaniel (107), Shaquille Morris (104) and Jamar Howard (101). He also owns the program’s single-season record for dunks with 58 last season and is currently on a 16-game streak with at least one dunk, the longest streak in program history.
He added four more on Friday, but the alley-oop dunk with 11:28 remaining in the second half stands above the rest.
“That one was really special,” WSU teammate Justin Hill said. “I think it gave everyone a boost.”
While the athletic feat itself was special, so was the play design from WSU head coach Paul Mills that set it up.
The Shockers have sputtered on offense this season when their two centers, Ballard and Matej Bosnjak, share the floor. But with starting forward Corey Washington plagued with foul trouble, it became a necessity on Friday for the two big men to play together. That meant Mills needed to get creative.
So when point guard Bijan Cortes crossed halfcourt with just under 12 minutes left and Ballard was initially in place to set the ball screen, Mills nixed it and dialed up a different formation. Ballard was instead sent to the left corner and Bosnjak was summoned to set the screen at the top of the key.
“Mills knows my guy is going to (help) when I’m in the corner,” said Ballard, who also registered his third straight double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. “So when the guard drives, my guy has to make a choice and once he steps up, I’ve just got to crash.”
Sure enough, it played out just how WSU practiced. Ballard’s man, Elijah Gray, left him alone in the corner and planted himself in the middle of the paint. When Cortes rejected Bosnjak’s screen and gained an advantage down the right side of the lane, Gray took a step toward WSU’s point guard to cut off the drive.
Instead of having Ballard set the screen and roll down the middle of the lane, which is easier for defenses to identify and plug, Ballard had a free runway to the basket from the left corner — where there was no obvious help for Temple’s defense.
Credit also goes to Cortes, who made the split-second read and flipped the pass up with just his right hand. That is why the pass was a bit off the mark — the target for lob passes is usually the corner of the backboard — but ultimately didn’t matter due to Ballard’s expansive catch radius.
On Friday, it made for the most impressive dunk of his career. Going forward, he would like to see more of them.
“I always tell Bijan and all of the other guards to read my guy and if he steps up, just throw the ball up,” Ballard said. “(The pass) looked pretty high, but my team knows me and they know I can go get the ball. Once I realized I had full possession of the ball, I just figured I had to throw it down.”
This story was originally published January 4, 2025 at 8:45 AM.
.jpg)