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Hamilton teen gets ‘Internet famous’ with lucky basketball shot (VIDEO)

Neate Sager

These days, the best-known high school basketball player in Hamilton is someone who did not even try out for his school team.

Last November, Josh Allinott used his phone to document that he can dunk a basketball, even though he didn't believe he had enough overall game to make the Bishop Tonnos Titans boys varsity basketball team this season. It's probably a very tough team to make, since Bishop Tonnos, in Ancaster, Ont., has some 1,400 students and plays in Ontario's highest classification, the quad-A division.

He could not get a dunk recorded ... but you know what else was tough? The no-look shot that Allinott, a Grade 11 pupil, ended up making after thrice being rejected by the law of gravity. It has gone on to have more than 130,000 views on YouTube.

Alone in the school gym, Allinott placed his iPhone on the bleachers and hit record, trying to capture proof that he could in fact dunk a basketball.

The result may have been better.

“A lot of people have seen it at school,” he said. “They think it's really funny... a cool shot.”

Allinott posted the video in November and the last time he checked, it only had 1,200 views. But his gym teacher recently alerted him to its popularity — it's gained over 100,000 views in the past week.

“I was freaking out when I found out,” Allinott said. (CBC Hamilton)

It's like a sequel to White Men Can't Jump.

Allinott, 17, told the CBC he is considering trying out for the hoops team at Bishop Tonnos next season, when he will be in Grade 12. The Titans fell one win short of reaching the provincial championship. The Cardinal Newman Cardinals — really?! — and Holy Trinity Titans will represent the Hamilton-area Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference when quad-A OFSAA begins Monday.

Between that and his Internet fame, Josh Allinott has motivation to make the team. Of course, the coaches might put more of a premium on playing defence than making practice dunks. Do a lot of lateral mobility drills this summer, Josh. There's some cheap unsolicited advice from someone who played very, little high school basketball, at an AA school half the size of Bishop Tonnos.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.