Freshman Hayes wins slam-dunk contest at Gators Madness
Saturday, October 3, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
UF men's coach Mike White gets a nice ovation when introduced at Friday night's Gators Madness pep rally at the O'Connell Center.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Freshman forward Kevarrius Hayes got a nice round of applause for winning the slam-dunk contest at Friday night's Gator Madness.
He got an even better reward when pro wrestling star Titus O'Neal wrapped a WWE championship belt around his waist.
"I got a nice shelf for it somewhere at home," Hayes said.
The dunk contest, which featured about five times more misses than makes, capped the festivities at the O'Connell Center, where a crowd of 4,000 filed in to help usher in the start of Florida's men's and women's basketball seasons (that's senior guard Carlie Needles, left).
Both teams were introduced, with O'Neal (once known as defensive tackle Thaddeus Bullard during his UF football days in the 1990s) and NFL Network personality Jenn Brown tag-teamming the emcee duties.
The biggest hand of the night went to new men's coach Mike White, who staged his first official practice of the 2015-16 season about six hours earlier. It was a 2 1/2-hour, high-energy workout -- "I really liked how they competed and stayed with it," he said -- but the Madness portion of the day was about having fun with the fans, including a hefty helping of Rowdy Reptiles. 
Redshirt freshman guard Brandone Francis-Ramirez won the 3-point shooting contest, beating former Gators standout and record long-range bomber Lee Humphrey in the finals (after those two eliminated senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith and former UF and NBA star Jason Williams).
Francis-Ramirez (right) hit his last five 3-balls, all from the corner, to finish with 18 points as his teammates cheered him on.
"Should've had at least 20," Francis-Ramirez said.
Then came the dunk contest, with the 6-9 Hayes, who starred at the same high school -- Live Oak Suwannee that Bullard attended 20 years ago -- beating sophomore Devin Robinson by tossing a ball off the backboard and cramming with two hands after a series of misses.
"I've always been told I have a lot of energy," Hayes said. "Hopefully, I can show it with actions as well as words."
WWE star Titus O'Neil celebrates dunk champion Kevarrius Hayes by presenting the freshman with a championship belt.
