Locker room reactions to William Kyle’s viral dunk: ‘He looked like LeBron’
To open the second half of Syracuse's win over Pitt, SU center William Kyle III threw down a ferocious putback dunk. Christian Calabrese | Staff Photographer
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PITTSBURGH — As William Kyle III cocked back his right arm in midair after snaring a missed shot off the rim, everyone inside the Petersen Events Center knew they were about to witness greatness.
A millisecond later, Kyle “blacked out” amid the gasps and shrieks from the home Pittsburgh crowd. He threw down a vicious putback dunk to begin the second half of Syracuse’s (11-5, 2-1 Atlantic Coast) eventual 83-72 triumph over Pitt (7-9, 0-3 Atlantic Coast) Saturday, the crowning play of many highlight-reel moments to ignite the Orange to their second straight victory.
When the ball rocketed through the basket and hit the hardwood with a palpable thud, shock set in across SU’s bench; eyes wide, pupils dilated, hands on heads in complete surrender of Kyle’s spectacular one-handed jam.
Senior guard J.J. Starling — who, postgame, saw a clip of himself running back on defense with his jaw dropped and his hands glued to his head — had high praise for Syracuse’s big man.
“He looked like LeBron,” Starling said with a wide smile. “I almost didn’t play defense (after).”
The way everyone reacted, it was almost as if officials would pause the game to recognize Kyle’s effort. SU third-year head coach Adrian Autry, meanwhile, was trying to calm down his ravenous bench — often referred to as the “Juicing Station.”
Autry said everyone acted like the athletic 6-foot-9 center has never done that before. But he says Kyle has turned superhuman plenty of times before in practice. This was nothing new.
“In the moment as a coach, I’m just trying to calm him down, settle him down,” Autry said of Kyle. “But it was a really thunderous dunk. When you have those types of plays, it can’t do nothing but energize your team, your fans. And I thought we fed off that energy for a long time.”
Kyle, though, said he has never made a play quite like that before. Once he charged in from the left elbow after Nate Kingz missed a 3-pointer, Kyle had to adjust to the low ball flight coming off the back of the rim. So, he scooped the ball with his right hand, threw his arm back and let it rip.
He said he’ll remember the frenzy his teammates went into for the rest of his life. However, he might not recall much of the dunk itself.
“I just blacked out for a split second,” Kyle said. “It kind of took me a minute to recognize what just happened.”
The UCLA transfer, hailed as a “freak athlete,” added that he’s tried to make finishing on putback jams a habit over his career.
“Coach (Autry) always emphasizes getting to the offensive boards. But even when we’re doing five-on-five stuff and somebody misses it, I’m trying to knock it (back) in,” Kyle said.
As for SU point guard Naithan George, he immediately burst into laughter when asked about Kyle’s tomahawk-esque dunk. He said he’s seen Kyle replicate similar dunks during pregame shootarounds. When others miss jumpers, Kyle foams at the mouth to throw down a second-chance effort.
George had never seen a crazier dunk than what he witnessed in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
“He was due for a nasty putback, and today was the day,” George said, gushing about Kyle. “That was disgusting.”
Kyle stuffed the stat sheet against Pitt, racking up 11 points, four rebounds and a season-high four steals. And he limited Panthers center Cameron Corhen — who put up nine points on 4-for-10 shooting — from making a significant impact.
Yet, the date of Jan. 10, 2026, will forever be remembered as the day Kyle’s thunder from down under left his teammates stunned.
As well as himself.
“I’ve seen a clip, it was crazy,” Kyle said, reacting to his own dunk. “I still can’t believe I did it.”
