Taurian Fontenette
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Taurian J. Fontenette (born 1983), also known as "Air Up There" and "Mr. 720", is a
streetball Streetball (or street basketball) is a variation of basketball, typically played on outdoor courts and featuring significantly less formal structure and enforcement of the game's rules. As such, its format is more conducive to allowing players ...
player from
Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
,
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. He is a former player on the AND1 Mixtape and
Ball4Real Ball4Real was the name of a traveling basketball exhibition and competition which made its debut in June 2007. A group of well-known streetball players traveled from city to city to challenge teams composed of local talent. Games tended to be cha ...
Tours. He is 6'2" tall and weighs 185 pounds. Fontenette attended Hitchcock High School (class of 2000) and attended three different colleges:
UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the University of Texas Syste ...
in 2000–01,
Richland Junior College Dallas College Richland Campus (often stylized as Richland or RLC) is a public community college in Dallas, Texas. The school was founded in 1972 and is part of Dallas College. It is the largest campus in the college, featuring about 20,000 st ...
in 2001–04, and
Paul Quinn College Paul Quinn College (PQC) is a private historically black Methodist college in Dallas, Texas. The college is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). It is the oldest historically black college west of the Mississippi River ...
in 2004–05. His original streetball name was "Air Up There", but due to naming rights claimed by
AND1 AND1 is an American footwear and clothing company specializing in basketball shoes, clothing, and sporting goods. AND1 was founded on August 13, 1993. The company focuses strictly on basketball and is a subsidiary of Galaxy Universal.
, he goes by "Mr. 720", "Birdman", "The Human Pogo Stick", "Your Highness", and "Way Up There". As his nickname implies, Fontenette is best known for his leaping and dunking ability. During the AND1 game in Houston, Texas, in 2006, Fontenette stunned fans by performing the first ever widely documented 540-degree dunk. Video clips of the feat have been shown on
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
's ''
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande,  Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...
'' and also have been widely distributed over the internet. He is also well known for his signature dunk, the axle-rider (a.k.a. the 360-degree between-the-legs), which he says he did before everyone else back in his high school days. Fontenette is considered by some to be one of the best dunkers ever due to his sole ability to do a 540 degree dunk, typically claimed to be a 720 degeee dunk, and the ease with which he can perform his axle-rider dunk (such as in games and on breakaways).


Professional career


Dallas Generals (2009)

Fontenette signed a contract to play for the
Dallas Generals The Dallas Generals was a team of the American Basketball Association that began play in the 2009–10 season. The franchise was owned by entertainment industry veteran Keio Gamble. The team's home games were played at Fair Park Coliseum in Dall ...
of the
American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...
in 2009. However, the team folded in January 2010.


References


External links


Taurian Fontenette dunk videos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fontenette, Taurian 1983 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Texas Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Paul Quinn College alumni Sportspeople from Galveston County, Texas Street basketball players University of Texas at El Paso alumni