25 years ago today, Providence traveled to Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers in a Big East conference game. Pitt point guard Sean Miller fed forward Jerome Lane, who unleashed one of the craziest dunks we’ve ever seen in basketball. Lane not only soared above the Providence defender, but seemed to float in midair for a moment before unleashing his vicious slam that not only pulled the rim off the backboard, but shattered the glass.

Play by play announcer Mike Gorman (also of the Boston Celtics) could only shout “OHHHHH!” after the dunk, and affter about seven to eight seconds of silence after his initial reaction, color commentator Bill Raftery said the now iconic line of “SEND IT IN, JEROME!” While Raftery has had numerous fantastic calls throughout his years in broadcasting, none has more staying power than his call of Lane’s vicious dunk during that January game 25 years ago. Tomorrow, College Gameday will commemorate Raftery’s call that’s one of the most famous in all of sports.

Could you imagine if this happened today in this new age of viral videos? There are just so many great things about this clip, from the dunk itself to the raw emotion of the calls from Gorman and Raftery. Lane’s dunk was truly before its time.

[ESPN Media Zone]

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.