Alley-oop
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An alley-oop in
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
is an offensive play in which one player throws the ball near the basket to a teammate who
jump Jumping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism or non-living (e.g., robotic) mechanical system propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory. Jump or Jumping also may refer to: Places * Jump, Kentucky or Jump S ...
s, catches the ball in mid-air and dunks or lays it in before touching the ground. The alley-oop combines elements of teamwork, pinpoint passing, timing and finishing.


Etymology

The term "alley-oop" is derived from the French term ''allez hop!'', the cry of a
circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
acrobat Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...
about to leap. The term “
Alley Oop ''Alley Oop'' is a syndicated comic strip created December 5, 1932, by American cartoonist V. T. Hamlin, who wrote and drew the strip through four decades for Newspaper Enterprise Association. Hamlin introduced a cast of colorful characters an ...
” was first popularized in the US in 1932 as the name of a syndicated comic strip created by cartoonist V. T. Hamlin. In sports, the term "
alley-oop An alley-oop in basketball is an offensive play in which one player throws the ball near the basket to a teammate who jumps, catches the ball in mid-air and dunks or lays it in before touching the ground. The alley-oop combines elements of team ...
" first appeared in the 1950s by the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL to describe a high arcing pass from quarterback Y. A. Tittle to wide receiver R.C. Owens, who would outleap smaller cornerbacks for touchdown receptions. "
The Catch The Catch may refer to: Film and television * ''The Catch'' (U.S. TV series), 2016-2017 American mystery television series * ''The Catch'' (UK TV series), 2023 British family drama television series * ''The Catch'' (1961 film), 1961 film by Nagisa ...
", the
Dwight Clark Dwight Edward Clark (January 8, 1957 – June 4, 2018) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for nine seasons with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1979 He was a member of San ...
touchdown reception from
Joe Montana Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. Nicknamed "Joe Cool" and "the Comeback Kid", ...
by which the 49ers gained entry into their first Super Bowl, was also an "alley-oop" pass. The term later became better known from its use in basketball.


History

In the 1950s, some players began grabbing balls in mid-air and then dunking.
K. C. Jones K. C. Jones (May 25, 1932 – December 25, 2020) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is best known for his association with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA), with whom he won 11 of his 12 ...
and
Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most Va ...
teamed up to perform the alley-oop several times while at the
University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...
in the mid-1950s. In addition,
Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most Va ...
,
Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a Center (basketball), center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 yea ...
at the
University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
and 'Jumping'
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at
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
would frequently grab errant shots by teammates and dunk them. This resulted in a tightening in the enforcement of offensive goaltending rules in
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
and
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
basketball in the late 1950s. The Phillips 66ers of the
National Industrial Basketball League The National Industrial Basketball League was founded in 1947 to enable U.S. mill workers a chance to compete in basketball. The league was founded by the industrial teams (teams sponsored by the large companies and made up of their employees) be ...
had an alley-oop play in its playbook where Charlie Bowerman would pass the ball to
Don Kojis Donald R. Kojis (January 15, 1939 – November 19, 2021) was an American professional basketball player who played twelve seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).. Career Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he attended Marquette Universi ...
. Kojis played two seasons for the 66ers between 1961 and 1963 making that the time period when the play was executed.
Al Tucker Albert Amos Tucker Jr. (February 24, 1943 – May 7, 2001) was an American professional basketball player. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Tucker is sometimes credited with inventing the alley-oop with his brother Gerald while at Oklahoma Baptist Universi ...
and his brother Gerald at
Oklahoma Baptist University Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) is a private Baptist university in Shawnee, Oklahoma. It was established in 1910 under the original name of The Baptist University of Oklahoma. OBU is owned and was founded by the Baptist General Convention of ...
are sometimes mistakenly credited with being the first to use the alley-oop in the mid-60s. In
Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is an American television sportscaster and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national ...
's record-setting 44-point, 21-for-22 shooting performance for
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
in the 1973 NCAA championship game against
Memphis State } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Ea ...
, six of his baskets came on alley-oop plays. Some others credit David Thompson as the first player to execute the classic alley-oop play while at
North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...
, with his teammates
Monte Towe Monte Corwin Towe (born September 27, 1953) is an American basketball coach and retired basketball player. He was a starting point guard on the 1973–74 North Carolina State Wolfpack men's basketball team which won the NCAA Division I Men's Bask ...
and
Tim Stoddard Timothy Paul Stoddard (born January 24, 1953) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is one of only two men to have played in both a World Series and a Final Four of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, along with fellow Eas ...
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. After a decade of dunking prohibition ended in the NCAA in 1976, the alley-oop became associated in the late 1970s with Michigan State's Earvin 'Magic' Johnson and
Greg Kelser Gregory Kelser (born September 17, 1957) is a retired American basketball player and current television color commentator. Kelser was a key member of the 1979 NCAA Champion Michigan State Spartans and spent six seasons playing professionally in t ...
. 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.
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. Three years later, unheralded
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
made the alley-oop an integral part of their undersized offense in
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, ended the regular season eighth in both major polls and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. The following year,
North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...
also won the national championship on what could be considered the most famous alley-oop of all time against heavily-favored
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
in the 1983
championship game In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...
at The Pit in
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. With time running out and the score tied, guard
Dereck Whittenburg Dereck Whittenburg (born October 2, 1960) is a former collegiate basketball player who played for North Carolina State Wolfpack men's basketball, North Carolina State University, where he was a member of the 1982–83 team that won the 1983 NCAA Di ...
shot short of the rim, which effectively functioned as a pass to
Lorenzo Charles Lorenzo Emile Charles (November 25, 1963 – June 27, 2011) was an American college and professional basketball player. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Charles played basketball for North Carolina State University and scored the game-winning ...
, who caught the ball and stuffed it through the net to win the title in a During the 1990s,
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
stars turned the alley-oop into the game's ultimate quick-strike weapon. In recent years, teams have often run the alley-oop as a planned play. The 2008 National Champions
Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a mem ...
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.


In popular culture

In the 2008 film ''
Semi-Pro ''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tier ...
'', protagonist Jackie Moon, played by
Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 200 ...
, invents the alley-oop after being knocked unconscious and speaking with his deceased mother in a depiction of Heaven. The crowd and announcers are left nearly speechless, unable to comprehend what happened. The referee is dumbfounded and feels the play should be a foul, and maybe even two fouls. Monix, played by
Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...
, breaks down the mechanics of the play and convinces the referee that it's worth two points. This play allowed the fictional Flint Tropics to rally back and eventually defeat the
San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...
.


See also

* Alley-oop (American football), the original usage of the term in sports


References

{{Basketball Basketball terminology