Zion Williamson’s vertical jump is so high he cleared the Duke measurement three times. Duke tweeted out Williamson set a new school record, but did not specify the number.
🚨🚨 New 🔵😈 Record 🚨🚨
@ZionW32 🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🚀🚀🚀 #EarnEverything
Rogers Sportsnet’s Michael Grange reported Duke coach Mike Kryzewski is on the record as saying Williamson reached 45″.
“Coach K says Zion Williamson — at 6-6, 280, set a Duke record for vertical jump at their testing — 45 inches. Yikes,” Grange tweeted.
Williamson admitted he even surprises himself sometimes with how high he can jump.
“My first one was my freshman year in my first high school game at Spartanburg Day School,” Williamson explained to Business Insider. “My teammate threw me a lob and I dunked on somebody, and I was just like ‘Wow, I really did that.’ It was crazy. Now it’s to the point where sometimes I’ll be going up for a layup, and I’ll lay it right over the rim and be like ‘Wow, I was really high on that. I could’ve dunked that.’ Sometimes I surprise myself honestly.”
Williamson is listed at 6’7″ and 284 pounds yet still has one of the top verticals in college basketball. There has been some skepticism over Williamson’s weight, but Kryzewski noted he had no concerns, per Zags Blog.
He’s graceful. His lateral movement and speed and anticipation is off the charts. He can drive, he can post up, he understands the really game well. I know that everyone has watched him on YouTube with all the dunking and obivously that’s impressive but he’s a heck of a basketball player.
He’s a gifted athlete. We’ve never had anyone exactly like him, which is OK. He’s a gifted athlete, a great kid.
At that weight or approximately that weight, he moves as fast as anybody, jumps higher than anybody and he’s alert. We’re not talking about someone who has excess body fat. This is a kid that’s in pretty darn good shape and just has a man’s mass. It’s more mass and strength than any type of excess weight. I’m not concerned about that. He’s done really well.
Williamson Wants to Be Known as More Than Just a Dunker
Williamson is the early favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA draft. Williamson gained notoriety in high school for his impressive dunks, but the Duke big man wants to be known for more than dunks.
“I kind of hate being classified as a dunker,” Williamson told ESPN. “Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] wouldn’t have recruited me if I was just a dunker. But I guess people on the outside don’t understand that. I can’t play to impress other people. I’m playing to get better for myself and my teammates and hopefully make a run for a national championship.”
Williamson is doing it all at Duke, averaging nearly a double-double. The Duke big man has displayed rare court vision for a player his size and also has no problem doing the dirty work like rebounding. Williamson is averaging 22 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and two blocks this season.