By: Reginald Graham, Will Fields, and Pilar Rossi
Although we don’t have an “All-Star Weekend” here in Georgia, we still have the events. From March 6-8, the GHSA will put on display the best dunkers and shooters the state has to offer in the 2025 Slam Dunk/3-Point Contest presented by BSN Sports at the Macon Coliseum.
This will be part one of a three-part series covering all the contestants in the events.
Each Slam Dunk participant has their own story, and we will highlight the unique paths they’ve taken to get here. From experiences such as just recently picking up a basketball to using plyometrics to increase their flexibility, as well as mom making sure everyone in the family votes for you. Everyone has their own. Let’s take a look at what brought them here.
Oluremi Guerrero c/o 27 – Druid Hills
2024 Season Stats 8 PPG, 5 RPG, 2 APG, 1 SPG
A relative newcomer to the sport, Oluremi Guerrero saw this year’s contest as a good opportunity to bring some notoriety to his name. Having only played organized basketball for a couple of years, Guerrero looks to seize any opportunity to showcase his natural athletic ability. He initially played basketball for fun; however, once he noticed a sizeable jump in athleticism after his seventh-grade track season, he realized that he was a cut above the rest. He recalls a time at the end of his eighth-grade season where one practice, his legs felt a bit better than normal, and he went up for a dunk, and that’s when he knew he had something special. This sophomore may have come to the world of organized basketball a bit later than his peers, but with his newfound athleticism and confidence, he’s got high hopes of one day going to play for a Division I program. Guerrero isn’t just an athlete; he’s a student who excels in the classroom just as much as he does on the court. With his work ethic, athleticism, and classroom excellence, I’m sure this will not be the last we hear of him.
Oluremi Guerrero Dunk Highlights
Jaylin Sweat c/o 26 – Bradwell Institute
2024 Season Stats 12.1 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.1 BPG
A junior at Bradwell Institute, Jaylin Sweat is gearing up for his first-ever Slam Dunk Contest. The 6 ’6, 190-pound big man flushed his first dunk at age 15 and has been working on his explosiveness ever since, using plyometric workouts to take his athleticism to the next level.
“I started trying different things,” Sweat said. “I windmilled in a game, that was crazy for me because I thought I was going to get hung at first, but I noticed how high I got.” The Georgia-native said that when he got his first Eastbay dunk, a between-the-legs-dunk, he knew the ploys were paying off, and now, during games, his teammates joke with him and say, “Man, you need to go Eastbay!”
Off the court, the 17-year-old likes to hang out and watch movies. When it comes to the classroom, his favorite subject is Intro to Business, but he also enjoys math from time to time. Sweat shared that he’s all about communication, viewing it as a valuable skill both on and off the court.
While Sweat kept his tactics for the contest under wraps, he revealed his signature style when attacking the rim—if he’s coming from the left, we can expect a reverse, but from the right, it’s a clean windmill. He explained that at first, his teammate was going to enter the contest, but after some encouragement, he took over and racked up votes on social media, with his friends and family reposting on their respective platforms. While Sweat wants his fellow contestants to “ball out and make every dunk,” he’s confident in his ability and has his eyes set on winning it all.
Sam Mobbs c/o 26 – Trion
2024 Season Stats 22.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 2.6 BPG
Class A Division II Region 7 Player of the Year
“I was looking at the other videos, and the dunks that I was doing were looking better than the others,” Mobbs said after seeing the competition. He believed that nothing could stop him from making the finals. It’s safe to say that Mobbs’ confidence level must be at an all-time high.
Although he felt his dunks were better, he still had to go through the process of receiving votes and earning a spot in the finals. “Well, my mom has a lot of Facebook friends, and she posted it (voting video) on Facebook every day.”
Now that he’s here in the finals, the pressure is starting to mount, and interestingly, he says that the order of the participants in the event may help determine which dunks he will perform. However, he’s keeping his dunk repertoire to himself, saying his first dunk will probably be “a lay-up.”
Sam’s favorite subject at Trion is math, and when he’s home, he spends his free time playing NBA 2K25 or hanging with friends. He spent all summer training for this moment, even though he had no idea he would be competing in this contest then. At the end of the day, he’s just going to “go out there and hope for the best.”
Quick Highlight Vid. pic.twitter.com/fcPHYk4o5X
— Sam Mobbs (@SamMobbs3b) January 9, 2025
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