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Ryan Dunn's Best College Highlights | UVA Basketball

Matt Newton

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With just a few preseason games under his belt, former Virginia basketball forward and Phoenix Suns rookie Ryan Dunn is already being called the steal of the NBA Draft. His defensive prowess and athleticism are translating well as expected, but Dunn has shocked those familiar with his game with a stunning display of three-point marksmanship.

After making just seven three-pointers in 34 games at UVA last season, and only 12 career threes in 65 games at the college level, Dunn has knocked down 12 three-pointers in his first four preseason NBA games, most recently splashing six triples against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night. In those four preseason games, Dunn is averaging 11.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 1.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game and is shooting a blistering 44.4% from three.

The biggest concern on Ryan Dunn's draft profile has seemingly become the biggest reason why he might be in for a fantastic rookie season in the NBA. Read more on Dunn's great start to the NBA preseason here: Ryan Dunn is Being Called the Steal of the NBA Draft After 4 Preseason Games

While Dunn's college tape is noticeably lacking in the three-point proficiency he has so far displayed at the NBA level, it is full of thunderous dunks, emphatic blocks, and other memorable highlight plays from his two years at UVA. Watch some of Ryan Dunn's best college highlights from his time with the Virginia basketball program below:

Starting with what is probably the best dunk of college career, Ryan Dunn threw down this poster dunk against Texas Southern early in the 2023-2024 season. We included a couple of different angles just for good measure.

Everything was coming up Virginia in its ACC matchup with Miami, including this alley-oop from Reece Beekman to Dunn to extend UVA's lead to 40-19. Yes, you read that score right.

Earlier in that game, Dunn got the backdoor pass from Beekman and soared to the rim for a dunk.

While he had a smaller role, Dunn also delivered a number of highlights in his freshman season in 2022-2023, including a sky-high alley-oop from Kihei Clark against Syracuse, a couple of big dunks and a chase-down block against JMU, and an impressive block against North Carolina in the ACC Tournament:

At home against NC State last season, Dunn had big chase down block and then a huge slam dunk to seal the win:

In UVA's game at NC State, Dunn slammed home a two-hand jam through contact plus a foul:

See the video below for five+ minutes of Ryan Dunn playing defense at Virginia from League Him on Twitter:

Here's "The best of Ryan Dunn" from the official UVA men's basketball Twitter account:

Finally, the ACC Network posted a 10-minute highlight reel of Ryan Dunn's best plays from the 2023-2024 season on YouTube:

We're looking forward to seeing Ryan Dunn make even more highlights as he embarks on his rookie season with the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association.

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.