Day 1 of Dunk Camp 2026 is in the books, and this year we are out in Salt Lake City. It was a really good first day for me. My jumping felt amazing, I hit two new dunks, and I got close on two more that would have made it my best session ever. Here is everything that went down on the opening day, including a 52.5-inch vertical that had the whole gym talking.
Why a lot of the pros sat Day 1 out
One interesting thing about Day 1 is that a lot of the pros actually held off on jumping. Dunk Camp runs four days and builds to the Dunk Show at the end, so the smart play is to pace yourself. In past years I have watched guys go big on day one, then deal with some nagging injury by day four that keeps them out of the Show. So this time a bunch of them sat the opening session out on purpose. It is the same lesson I keep coming back to: you are not training for any single day, you are training to still be standing for the one that matters. You can see what a full opening day looks like when everyone does let it fly in my recap of Dunk Camp Day 1 back in 2023.
I went the other way and jumped, because my body felt good and I wanted to take advantage of it. That is the gamble at a camp like this. You read your own body and decide.
The two new dunks I hit
The first new one was a Windmill Elbow off a Hand-Off. I have been chasing that dunk for a while now. I tried a bunch of different methods to set it up, finally settled on the Hand-Off, and then hit it first try today, which was crazy. When something you have been grinding on for months falls on the very first attempt, it almost does not feel real.
The second was a 360 Scoop off a lob, also first try. I have done a version of that off a Hand-Off a long time ago, so it had been forever since I landed it, and getting it off a lob today felt great.
I also got really close on Underboth and a 360 Eastbay. Honestly, if either one of those had gone down, it would have made this my best session ever. I am a little annoyed I did not finish them, but I got close on both and landed a lot of other good dunks, so I am taking it as a great day either way. If some of these dunk names are new to you, I keep a running dunk terminology page that breaks down how I spell and define all of them.
The guys who went off
Jordan Southerland was dunking, and you will see him in this video. Nathaniel Kenney, who a lot of people know as Hoopin Nate, had an Eastbay, a 360 Windmill, and a ton of other stuff. That is wild when you consider his best dunk at Dunk last year was a one-hander. A leap like that in one year is exactly what this camp does to people.
Then there is Piotr Zawislak, an 18-year-old from Poland who told me to just call him Peter. He was insane. He hit 360 Underboth, 360 Inverter, 360 Behind the Back, 360 Eastbay, and a 540, just a crazy list in one day. Dac and Chi also did some stuff for another channel, so I could not film or post their dunks here, but I am excited for you to see those when they come out.
Ethan Pimstone got measured at 52.5 inches
The number everyone was talking about came from Ethan Pimstone, who got measured at 52.5 inches today. I think they were still confirming the number when I filmed this, so I am not going to call it official until they lock it in. But a jump like that is absurd either way, and it is right in world-record territory if it holds up. What makes it even crazier to me is that Ethan was the 48-inch jumper who came out of nowhere when I had him on the podcast, and now he is testing 52.5. That is not a small bump. That is a different level.
I am officially in Shaq’s DunkMan League
If you caught my shirt in the video, yes, that is real. I am officially in Shaquille O’Neal’s new DunkMan League, the first professional league built around the sport of dunking. There is a lot more coming on that front, and I cannot wait to share it. Being part of the first real pro dunk league is a full-circle thing for me, and it is a sign of where this sport is finally headed.
More from Dunk Camp this week
This was just Day 1, and there is a lot more from Dunk Camp coming this week. Camps like this are the whole reason I run the Minnesota Dunk Squad back home. My best jumping days come from being around people better than me, and a gym full of the best dunkers in the world is that same idea turned all the way up.
If you want to actually hear how guys like Ethan and Jordan got to this level, I have sat down with a lot of them on the Dunk Talk Podcast. Day 1 set the tone, and I cannot wait to show you the rest.
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