DaytonDailyNews.com

MINNEAPOLIS — There was a bit of a debate going on in the Kansas dressing room.

"He's just so athletic," said Cole Aldrich, the Jayhawks' 6-foot-11 center. "He jumps out of the gym. He's probably got a 42-inch vertical."

Sitting on the other side of the team's cramped Metrodome quarters, KU guard Brady Morningstar nodded: "I wish I had a 45-inch vertical like him."

A few minutes later, a grinning Aldrich stretched any semblance of fact into fiction: "I think he has a 60-inch vertical."

Chris Wright, the Dayton Flyers' high flier, was being turned into an ever-growing fish tale by the defending national champs after they had finished practice Saturday afternoon, March 21, for today's second-round NCAA tournament game with UD.

While they couldn't agree on the height of Wright's hops, none took issue with KU guard Tyshawn Taylor's assessment: "He's a freak. A freak athlete with a lot of bounce."

Morningstar nodded: "A real crowd pleaser."

Earlier in the day, the KU players had watched game film of Wright, especially his 27-point, 10-rebound effort Friday that led the Flyers to a 68-60 upset of West Virginia in their first-round game and the school to its first NCAA tournament victory in 19 years.

In the process, Wright didn't just please the crowd, he wowed it with three dunks, including the final one with 3:43 left that — thanks to a Mickey Perry block on the other end and a perfect lead pass by Charles Little — came on a break-away fast break that he ended with a tomahawk dunk that left the Metrodome crowd roaring.

Wright was asked what flitted through his mind the moment he saw there was no one between him and the hoop:

"It's funny because when I was in high school and playing AAU, my favorite dunk on the fast break would be a windmill. And before every game, my cousin would always text me and say 'da-da-dum ... da-da-dum.' "

That's the musical introduction to ESPN's SportCenter, where the best dunks often end up on the show's Top Ten Plays of the Day. And that's the standard Wright's cousin held him to Friday.

"But when I got on the bus after yesterday's game," Wright grinned, "I read his text and it said, 'Man, you soft! That ain't what I wanted to see.' It's because I didn't windmill. He said he stood up and everything (waiting for it.)"

Wright said he and the other Flyers call that sweeping, one-hand slam he used on West Virginia "The LeBron":

"It's kind of a salute to LeBron, especially being from Ohio."

As Wright had come roaring down the court in rocket-launcher mode, Flyers coach Brian Gregory — knowing what was about to happen — said he wasn't watching the rim as much as the floor:

"If you can believe it, the thing I look at is how he lands. We work on how he lands. When he was younger he always landed on his heels and it put the pressure on his feet.

"...And I just make sure that the ball goes through the hoop.... Does it help us? There's no question about it. I know it's only two points, but whenever one of our guys makes a play like that, it gives us a little boost."

Similarly Friday, Aldrich boosted his team with 23 points, 13 rebounds and a staggering eight forceful two-handed dunks in the Jayhawks' 84-74 elimination of North Dakota State.

Asked to compare his slams and those of Wright, Aldrich smiled: "We both try to rip the rim down when we go up."

Just as there was debate in the KU quarters, there was discussion among the Dayton players about the Aldrich octet.

"His dunks are a lot more powerful because he's bigger than us," said 6-foot-6 Charles Little. "But eight dunks is still eight dunks. I hope me and Marcus (Johnson) and Chris can get eight dunks (today).

Johnson nodded: "That's impressive. We tend to get eight ... "

"I think the school record is 10," Little interrupted quietly.

"That's three of us," countered Johnson. "Just one person doing it is pretty special."

But before anyone tried to turn this into a David versus Goliath tale — especially with Kansas an eight-point favorite — Little ended such discussion with a Dayton Flyer dictum:

"We never feel like the underdog going into any game. So America might think we're killing brackets and have no chance, but we think we can play with anybody."

And in the Kansas dressing room there was no debate over that.