Oh No: College Freshman Completely Forgets Everything, Has Absurd Basketball Blunder
One of the most common mistakes in youth basketball is when a kid forgets which basket is his or hers and shoots at the wrong one.
That act alone is bad, but actually making the basket is even worse. In addition to giving the other team the two points, that player feels ashamed and embarrassed.
While that act is excusable for kids, it’s shocking to see from anyone from, say, the high school level or above. That’s what makes one play from Saturday’s college basketball action so astonishing.
During the season of giving, Towson freshman forward Solomon Uyaelunmo handed La Salle the easiest two points they’ll get all year by dunking, and scoring, in the wrong basket.
“Uyaelunmo scored on the wrong basket,” the commentator exclaimed. How about that?”
Uyaelunmo received the inbounds pass during the first half, took one power dribble and went up for a two-handed slam. As the play unfolded, Towson coach Pat Skerry raised his hands to his head and then dropped them in disbelief.
That error may have ended up costing Towson in the end, as La Salle won by just six points, 57-51.
Uyaelumno finished the game with two points for his team and two points for the other team. It’s not exactly clear who got credit for his accidental basket. NBA rules, which are similar to FIBA and the NCAA, dictate that the opposing player closest to the person who scored in the wrong hoop gets the credit.
“A field goal accidentally scored in an opponent’s basket shall be added to the opponent’s score, credited to the opposing player nearest the player whose actions caused the ball to enter the basket,” NBA rules state.
If there’s one thing that Uyaelunmo can take solace in, it’s the fact that he’s in some pretty special company.
Some of the greatest players in NBA history have scored in the wrong basket, albeit unintentionally. For example, a young Kobe Bryant once accidentally tipped the ball into the wrong hoop while trying to grab a rebound.
But perhaps the weirdest scoring-in-the-wrong-basket play came via Gerald Wallace.
Wallace blocked a shot down into the court, but the ball had so much backspin that it ended up in the hoop!
Uyaelunmo should chalk his error up to a freshman mistake, but a freshman mistake that he won’t want to make twice.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
