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All eyes were on Bradley Dean.
 
Thousands and thousands of eyes.
 
And he could see those eyes getting much, much wider as his best friend, Mac McClung, ran his direction.
 
Then McClung grabbed the basketball Dean was holding between his shoulders, jumped over his friend's head, and threw down the first of his four dunks in the 2023 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
 

Showstopping. 🎬

It's the 2023 #ATTSlamDunk contest champion Mac McClung Mixtape#StateFarmSaturday pic.twitter.com/c2ClPqNO77

— NBA (@NBA) February 19, 2023

 
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So how did Bradley Dean end up wearing his Gate City (Va.) High School basketball jersey one more time on that February night, sitting on top of someone else's shoulders, and helping McClung win the NBA's slam dunk title on the Utah Jazz's court?  
"We talk every day; he's my best friend," Dean said of his high school teammate. "I think everyone in their lifetime has that one person that, no matter where you're at or what you're doing, you always make time to stay connected. That's how me and him are…
 
"He called and said, 'Brad, I think I'm going to the dunk contest.' We probably talked every night for a week trying to figure out dunks that he wanted to do. He said, 'I want to make this one of the best ever. I want everyone to remember this.'…
 
"Then two weeks prior, he said, 'Brad, by the way, you're coming, right?'"
 
There was only one small problem with the invitation. Dean, then a sophomore guard at NCAA Division II Virginia-Wise, had a game scheduled that night.
 
"I told him, 'There's no way I'm going to Utah. I can't do that to my team,'" Dean recalled. "He was like, 'This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing…You've been a part of every other dunk contest. You're the one who threw me all these lobs. I need you there!'
 
Dean sat down with the UVA Wise coaches, who agreed to let him make the trip and miss the team's non-conference contest. 
 
"They said, 'If I were in your shoes, I would want to go and I would go,'" Dean explained. "So, the head coach was like, 'All right – you can go. But you'd better win!'"
 
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Dean is used to winning.
 
He teamed up with McClung and Elon's Zac Ervin to lead Gate City to its first-ever high school state title in 2018. He helped UVA Wise last year to its first winning season since 2010 and a berth in its conference title game, including draining the go-ahead three-pointer in the final seconds of a dramatic quarterfinal victory and pouring in 35 points in a semifinal upset of top-seeded Lincoln Memorial. And of course, most famously, he was part of McClung's dunk contest victory in front of all-time legends like Julius Erving, Dominique Wilkins and Shaquille O'Neal —as well as a television audience that topped three million viewers— last February.
 
(The rare exception when Dean didn't come close to winning? A spring cameo with UVA Wise's golf team. "They had to have me at least compete so they could go play in the [upcoming] conference tournament," laughed Dean, who at least managed to break 100 in three straight rounds.)
 
Dean's winning mentality was a big part of what drew him to join Miami Men's Basketball when the D2CCA All-American and SAC Player of the Year entered the transfer portal this offseason looking for a Division I opportunity on the hardwood.
 
"My goal was to find a coaching staff and a place that I felt believed in me as much as I did myself," said Dean. "Coach Steele and [the staff] did a really good job making me feel that and showing me their plan for me and what they wanted.
 
"Their goals aligned with what I want to do. I wanted to try to go win a conference championship and play in March."
 
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If Dean is able to help lead the RedHawks to a MAC tourney run this coming March, Miami fans can credit the groundwork laid last April. That's when Travis Steele and now-associate head coach Jonathan Holmes traveled to meet face-to-face with Dean and make their pitch, so to speak, in Gate City.

Specifically, at Pizza Plus in Gate City.
 
"Brad was a guy that we prioritized," said Steele. "Coach Holmes and I went down to Gate City, probably a five-hour drive from Oxford, and we had lunch with him. We just sat down and gave him the vision that we had for him."
 
As he has with other prospective transfers, Steele made sure to highlight the opportunity to put Miami's program 'back on the map', and the importance of playing for a coaching staff that lets student-athletes play to their strengths.
 
The goal: "How can we get Brad to be the best version of himself?"
 
As the men munched on pizza and salad, Steele was confident his message (and the effort he and Holmes had made) was resonating.
 
"You could tell how much he appreciated us coming there to meet with him in person," Steele said. "Every college coach at that point is basically on the phone 24 hours a day, calling all the guys that are entering the portal. I thought that would give us a huge advantage if we could get in front of Brad in person and make us stick out a little bit more.
 
"Actions speak a lot louder than words, right? We're very fortunate that we were able to end up landing him."
 
Dean followed up with a visit to campus, and it didn't take long after that for him to commit to the Red and White. "Once I got up here on my visit and saw the place and got the feel of their personalities and who they are as men, I felt like I related to them," Dean said.
 
"I could envision taking bits and pieces of the [coaches]' personalities to add to mine and make me a better man. I knew they had my best interests at heart, and I think everything just lined up…
 
"They've been true to their word. They're the same people I met when I came up here that day as they are today."
 
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Fast forward to the present, and although the 2023-24 season is only two games old, Dean is already making his presence felt in the RedHawks' backcourt.
 
"He's a live wire," said Steele. "He can score the basketball. You think about the MAC, and every team has a guy who can really score it, someone who can get his own shot and really shoot. I think Brad gives us that scoring punch that we were losing with Mekhi Lairy…

"He can play at either guard spot: On the ball or off the ball. We need him to score, and I would anticipate him being one of the top scorers on our team for sure…he's going to have a chance to make a huge impact on our team…Huge.
 
"I think he'll really grow as this year goes on."
 
Dean's offensive output at UVA Wise increased from 11.8 points per game in 2021-22 to 21.4 ppg last winter, and that ability to put the ball in the basket will become more and more evident as he gets accustomed to the defensive length he's facing every night now in Division I.
 
A spurt late in the first half against Texas State last Saturday showed the game-changing potential of the RedHawks' 6-foot-2 junior guard. Dean buried a long three-pointer from the left wing, immediately following that up at the other end of the floor by diving on the court to make a steal and draw a foul. He converted the free throws and added another pair of points from the charity stripe on Miami's final possession of the period to tally a quick seven points in just over two minutes of action.
 
"Brad has always had a natural feel for the game," McClung said. "I think his competitiveness is going to help this program a lot. As he gets more opportunity, he will show how he can change a game.
 
"Growing up with Brad, he's pushed me a lot as a player and a person. I've seen him compete with all ranges of players from college to pros, and I can't wait until he shows this university who he is."
 
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While Dean might be best known in the basketball world for his viral assist to McClung's dunk championship (if the hundreds of messages he received that night are any indication), he hopes to also put his stamp on the RedHawks' program in a way that resonates long past his final two seasons of college hoops.
 
"I don't think this team really has a ceiling," Dean said. "I think we have every piece offensively and defensively that we need…
 
"More than anything, I want to be known as someone who came here, he and his team got the job done, and they went and won a MAC championship."
 
And if Miami goes on to accomplish exactly that, it will be, at least in part, on the shoulders of Bradley Dean.
 
Which, if you watched the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, probably sounds quite familiar.
 
Find more Front Row Features at: MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures.
 
Dean and the RedHawks are in action twice this weekend at Millett Hall as part of the Miami Classic, hosting Coppin State at 7 p.m. Friday and Eastern Illinois at 1 p.m. Sunday. Season, Pick 5 Flex Plan, single-game and group tickets are available now.