The Dunk That Made History

On Dec. 21, 1984, a small crowd in Elkins, W.Va., filtered into the town armory to watch a women's basketball game between powerhouse West Virginia and the tiny University of Charleston.

The roughly 100 people in the bleachers witnessed history.

The game was also remarkable for another reason: No visual evidence of the play was ever released. Newspaper articles ran without photos and TV stations covered it without any visuals. Some people didn't believe it happened. Reporters "would say 'you don't have proof, you don't have proof,' " Ms. Wells says.

But there was a tape. Bud Francis, the coach of the opposing team, Charleston, had a man stationed near the stage on the east side of the armory, and his camera lens was pointed directly at Ms. Wells during the dunk. Despite repeated requests from media and West Virginia University, Mr. Francis never turned the tape over. Ms. Wells's coach, Kittie Blakemore, says she assumed the recording had been destroyed. The coach died in 1999 and the secret of the lost tape seemingly went with him to the grave.

Earlier this year, Mr. Francis's son, Ford, looked in an old box of his father's. In it, he found a nondescript video cassette, labeled "W.V.U.-84 Elkins." It was the tape of the dunk. The picture has deteriorated slightly, but what can clearly be seen is Georgeann Wells, leaping through the air and slamming the ball with authority.

Go to the LINK and you can see the video. I was unable to find an embed.