Cameraman falls while storming basketball court Photo Credit: ESPN

After a display of peak athleticism during an epic finish to the Arkansas-Vanderbilt women’s college basketball game, one cameraman hilariously showed off his own version of coordination.

The Arkansas Razorbacks and Vanderbilt Commodores had an absolutely insane ending to their game on Monday. Vanderbilt’s Marnelle Garraud drained three 3-pointers during the final 21 seconds of the game, including one that appeared to force overtime. But with less than five-seconds to go, Arkansas’ Makayla Daniels went the length of the court and hit a buzzer-beater three to secure the win.

After the wild finish, Daniels’ teammates stormed the court, as did cameraman Noah Southard who charged in from the baseline. But as his body appeared to move faster than his feet, the cameraman fell flat on his face and bounced toward the Razorbacks like a bowling ball rolling toward stacked pins. Thankfully, Southard landed in the gutter, evading what would have been a disaster if he took out a group of celebrating college basketball players.


No one would have blamed Southard if he just stayed down and faked a non-contact injury to hide the embarrassment from a fall like that. But as unathletic as the fall was, the cameraman showed incredible poise by quickly getting back up to his feet to capture the celebration. Even better, Southard shared the footage from his epic tumble.

Southard may not have matched Daniels’ athleticism on Monday, but the cameraman did match her intensity and effort as he quickly recovered from the fall. After the game, Arkansas head coach Mike Neighbors even recognized Southard’s dedication to his craft.


“If we will all play as hard as Noah worked at getting the last shot, we’ll all be fine,” Neighbors said. “That kind of intensity and effort is what we needed for the last three seconds.”

Maybe we all just need to do our jobs with the same intensity and effort as an overzealous cameraman who refuses to be denied.

[Noah Southard]

About Brandon Contes

Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com