DUNK CITY
Shropshire hopes to make hometown proud in contest
SUMMERVILLE, Ga. — Maybe your bracket has been busted and your favorite team is sitting at home.
Chattanooga-area basketball fans can still have a rooting interest in a final four.
Chattooga High School senior Jay Shropshire will compete in the American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk Championship next weekend in Phoenix, not far from the site of this year’s Final Four for the NCAA men’s tournament. How the 6-foot-1 jumping jack earned the invitation is as much about the Summerville community as it is about Shropshire’s talents.
Shropshire — the Region 7-AA and Northwest Georgia Tip-Off Club Player of the Year after leading the Indians to a 26-2 record and an appearance in the state quarterfinals — beat out 15 other athletes in a nationwide fans’ vote to earn an invitation to Arizona. The other three competitors were selected by a panel of experts.
“As soon as we found that out Jay would be included in the vote, my wife and I knew our community — considering the kind of support they have given us — would go all out to get Jay in,” said Chattooga coach Jared Groce, who with his wife put together a video of some of Shropshire’s highlights.
“Even though Jay was from a much smaller town than most of the participants, I felt very confident our community would do everything possible to get Jay this opportunity. That’s what this is all about. All the guys are really talented, so what it really ended up being about was just how supportive everybody was for Jay.”
Unlike Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game,
which allows fans to vote for players as many times a day as they want, a vote could be cast just once per day per device.
“It’s funny,” Groce recalled, “people in Summerville were getting out any old cellphone, iPad, computer — whatever they could find that still worked — to vote for him.”
The support hasn’t gone unnoticed by the unassuming Shropshire.
“I love it that I get to go and represent my school and community,” he said. “It means a lot to me, and I feel very blessed they were able to do this for me. I can’t thank our community enough for getting behind me.”
The Groces plan to attend the event with Shropshire’s mother. The competition will be filmed next Friday at Greenway High School and shown on CBS at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 2, the day between the NCAA semifinals and the title game in Glendale, Ariz.
Coach Groce hopes the national exposure helps the uncommitted player find a college hoops home.
“What greater exposure could you ask for?” Groce said. “Jay definitely wants to play at the next level, and we want to give him every opportunity to do that. He’s got all the tools to help a team, and hopefully somebody will watch this and give him a chance.”
As for the competition, Shropshire isn’t letting out any secrets, only that in addition to his favorite windmill and 360 dunks there will be something new.
“I have some stuff ready,” he said, “but I just want everyone to watch and be surprised.”