Jameel Pugh didn’t bring a slam-dunk trophy back to Sacramento State.He brought much more.

Although Pugh finished second in last week’s 2005 NCAA slam dunk contest on ESPN — losing to Mindaugas Katelynas of Tennessee-Chattanooga in the final round — he brought respect and positive exposure to the Hornets on the national stage.

Pugh’s outgoing personality and showmanship earned him more ESPN face time than any of his competition and gave Sac State athletics its best publicity in recent history.

“People were so proud to see their university represented,” Pugh said. “People felt proud to be a Hornet.

“I felt like I was carrying all of Sac State on my shoulders. There were so many people I didn’t want to let down. I wanted to give Sac State something to be proud of.”

Cameras couldn’t avoid the image of Sac State. Fellow Hornets DaShawn Freeman, Chris Lange and Zane Beekman received plenty of camera attention standing courtside in their Sac State jerseys.

“We were all out there to support Jameel,” Lange said. “Who else was going to be there to give him his chest bumps after a 360?”

Each dunker received two dunk attempts in the first round and one dunk in both the semifinals and finals. There was no limit to the amount of attempts, but each turn was limited to 25 seconds.

Pugh failed to complete a dunk in the final round, missing on a between-the-legs attempt as time expired. Pugh said he ran out of time while thinking of what dunk he was going to attempt.

Katelynas won by lobbing the ball up to himself and going between his legs.

In the first round, after missing his first two attempts between his legs, Pugh was in need of something quick and simple. Making it look easy, Pugh quickly executed an elbow-in-the-rim dunk.

Pugh earned a perfect score on a powerful 360-degree dunk on his second dunk of the first round. He honored Julius Erving on the dunk, wearing a throwback Massachusetts jersey, an afro wig and a headband.

It was all part of the show.

Pugh played to the St. Louis crowd, adorning a local Cardinals baseball cap as he took off over Oklahoma State’s John Lucas for a two-handed slam in the semifinals.

The all-senior dunk contest, made up of eight contestants, featured Wesley Duke (Mercer), Chuck Hayes (Kentucky), Rawle Marshall (Oakland), Jason Maxiell (Cincinnati), Ed McCants (Wisconsin-Milwaukee) and Daniel McGaffney (West Virginia Tech).

Andre Emmett, from Texas Tech, won the event last season.

Pugh was named “The World’s Greatest Dunker” in 1999 by SLAM magazine and was also ranked the No. 33 dunker of all-time by the magazine.

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Jimmy Spencer can be reached at [email protected]