Brandon Turnage throws down monster jam to win Ole Miss slam dunk contest at Grove Bowl
Ole Miss defensive back Brandon Turnage showed off his athleticism Saturday at the Grove Bowl Games to win the inaugural slam dunk contest. The competition was one of many challenges that were a part of a new spring game format as the Rebels ditched the typical scrimmage this year.
Turnage wowed the judges, including Ole Miss basketball coach Chris Beard, with his first dunk of the afternoon. He threw down a double-pump slam with his back to the basket that earned him a perfect score. You can view the dunk below.
Turnage wasn’t done there, however. In total, he completed four dunks on the day to win the competition for the Red team. That gave them an early lead heading into the next challenge, a 7-on-7 scrimmage.
Brandon Turnage is his first season at Ole Miss after spending the past three seasons at Tennessee. He appeared in 11 games for the Vols in 2023 to finish with nine tackles and one pass defended. Turnage began his career at Alabama in 2019 and is a former four-star recruit.
He certainly made a great first impression in Oxford by winning the slam dunk contest and will aim to continue to impress as the spring game rolls on.
Lane Kiffin explains decision to change Ole Miss spring game format
The Ole Miss spring game looked much different than usual when the Rebels took the field on Saturday. Named the “Grove Bowl Games,” the event resembled the new-look version of the NFL Pro Bowl with players partaking in challenges that often had little to do with football.
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There was a slam dunk competition, a hot dog eating contest and a tug-o-war challenge. Of course, football was still part of the day as well with the Red Team taking on the Blue team in a 7-on-7 flag football match.
Kiffin spoke with SEC Network live during the spring game on how he came up with the new format, as well as why.
“I kind of wanted to think outside the box because the spring game, everybody just runs a few plays and a few defenses,” he explained. “So really analyzing doesn’t do us a whole lot of good. You potentially get injuries. So we just weighed that and we said, ‘let’s make it like the Pro Bowl and have a skills 7-on-7.’
“Then in between just said, ‘OK, what are our ideas?’ I said, ‘What about a dunk competition?’ thinking Tre Harris would win. Then a hot dog eating competition. If we can hit Joey Chestnut, we can figure that thing out. Then a skills challenge and a relay race. We just tried to make it exciting for fans and for players. Pretty cool day.”