If you’ve been on the internet at any time over the past week, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the video below, which features a member of the World Famous Harlem Globetrotters sinking a basketball shot from the Orange Streak roller coaster at the Mall of America’s Nickelodeon Universe Theme park.
Fortunately for us, we were able to connect with the man behind the trick shot, Julian “Zeus” McClurkin, who has been a member of the Harlem Globetrotters for eight years.
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Zeus is a self-identified “coaster enthusiast,” who spent his summers growing up visiting nearby Kings Island and Cedar Point.
“I used to ride roller coasters every summer with my family,” Zeus shared. “For a long time, Ohio had the moniker of the ‘Roller Coaster Capital of The World.’ They had the tallest and fastest wooden roller coasters in the Beast and Son of Beast at Kings Island, and the tallest, fastest steel coasters in Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force at Cedar Point. I made it a point every single summer if there was a new roller coaster coming out, I would go straight there and get on that.”
Even as an adult, Zeus tries to make time to whet his appetite for roller coasters.
“When we did the ‘Tum-E Yummies’ Tour last summer [at multiple Cedar Fair parks], every amusement park we went to, we also had the opportunity to ride some rides, and most of the time, I was the only player that wanted to do that. That’s my jam. I really like riding rides. It’s a pretty controlled chaos and it’s a lot of fun.”
The Harlem Globetrotters performing at Carowinds in 2018. Video: The Crazy Pop/Butch Bennett
As much as he enjoys riding roller coasters, for the 6’8″ McClurkin, they can be a bit uncomfortable at times.
“I feel like there was a large portion of my life where I couldn’t fit on roller coasters, because I was too short,” he said with a laugh. “Then, I had this growth spurt in high school and could fit on every roller coaster! But I had a short window of riding because I was getting too tall to fit on any of them. They get a little uncomfortable now, being 6’8 with knees knocking around with drops. I still love them and they’re a ton of fun!”
Now a seasoned “trick shot artist,” the most recent trip to the Mall of America was actually the second “trick shot” trip for McClurkin as a member of the Globetrotters. In 2016, they filmed a video of Zeus making trick shots from the Zip Line, the Ferris Wheel, and atop the Mall of America’s Ropes Course, which he referred to as the “walk the plank” shot.
The Mall of America checked a lot of boxes for what the Harlem Globetrotters look for when scouting a “trick shot” location, so much so that Zeus referred to the famous shopping center as a “Trick Shot Paradise.”
“They have so many unique places that we can go inside the Mall of America. We can go to the Rotunda, we can ride any of the many roller coasters they have,” he said. “There are so many different iconic places within the Mall of America. It was made really to be a trick shot paradise. We shoot trick shots all over the world, and we always look for unique places for each city, but also recognizable for our fans in that region. The Mall of America is perfect for that.”
For the Pepsi Orange Streak shot specifically, it was a joint effort between the Globetrotters and Mall of America.
“We looked back at what we did three years ago at Mall of America when Zeus took over the Nickelodeon Universe by himself,” said Eric Nemeth, Senior Director of Publicity for the Harlem Globetrotters. “What was unique there was certainly the Zipline Shot, and there were a few other shots from stationary locations. We went back to the Mall of America and told them ‘there’s so many things to offer there, how about we look at some of the roller coasters’?”
However, when the shot was being dreamed up, neither Nemeth or Zeus were on-site to plan out the logistics of the shot. The planned it out using point of view videos they found on YouTube.
“The great thing about the internet and YouTube, is there are so many point-of-view videos from not only the roller coasters at Mall of America, but just about every roller coaster in the world,” Nemeth said. I wasn’t in Minneapolis. Zeus wasn’t in Minneapolis. But we started sharing different videos back and forth. We looked for an option to make the shot under the time constraints we had with the Mall opening at 11 a.m. The Orange Streak became our top choice.”
“We planned this trick shot through ‘virtual’ site visits,” he continued. “There were some areas where we knew we could put the hoop. We were sharing videos asking ‘what if we put the hoop here, what if we put the hoop there?’ And when we arrived on a Sunday morning before the Mall opened, we got right to work. That’s where Zeus’ skill and instincts come in. He knocked it down right away. He’s one of the best trick shot artists in the world!”
If you go back and watch the video, you’ll notice that McClurkin utilized the backboard to sink the trick shot. We asked him if he called “bank.”
“I definitely called ‘bank’,” he said with a laugh. “Fortunately for me, the bank was open on Sunday morning.”
After doing trick shots for several years, Zeus noted that the roller coaster trick shot was definitely one of his top two favorites that he had made in his Globetrotter career.
“It’s definitely one of the most unique and one of my favorites,” he said. “The Mall of America trick shot three years ago was actually one of my first times ever shooting trick shots [for the Globetrotters] before. It was kind of full circle to be able to come back this time and be able to shoot from a moving roller coaster. I looked on the internet and didn’t really see anyone doing anything like this before. I had no way to kind of judge it or figure out what I was going to do, or how my release should be. It was a guessing game and I was able to knock it down. It definitely ranks in my top two trick shots — either favorite or second favorite.
His other trick shot that ranks in the top two?
“My very first trick shot in my home city when I spun the ball on my finger and threw it from the top level of Ohio Stadium. That one was iconic because it was in front of my family, and everything surrounding that shot.”
While Zeus’ shot is the first Globetrotters’ shot to be made from a moving roller coaster, it’s not their first trick shot that involves a roller coaster. In 2016, Harlem Globetrotter Will “Bull” Bullard, sunk a trick shot from 15 stories high, atop Silver Dollar City’s “Wildfire” Roller Coaster.
Also in 2016, Bullard got on a different kind of coaster, the Skycoaster at Morey’s Piers at the Wildwoods boardwalk in New Jersey, and made another trick shot.
While the Globetrotters plan to return to Wildwood later this year, they’re always on the look out for new and unique trick shot ideas, and if Zeus has his way, he’ll get a chance at another moving roller coaster trick shot in the future.
“There’s so many opportunities, and we’re always looking for ideas. I’d definitely be down for a taller, faster roller coaster,” he said with a laugh.
The Harlem Globetrotters are a division of Herschend Family Entertainment, who also own Dollywood, Silver Dollar City and Wild Adventures.
Zeus wanted to let the Coaster101 audience know that they can get the same opportunities for the exhilarating rush of riding a roller coaster by attending a Harlem Globetrotters game in person! You can find their schedule and more by visiting their website at www.HarlemGlobetrotters.com, and following them on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
And if you’re looking to follow Zeus to see where his trick shot journey takes him, you can follow him on Twitter and Instagram!
Was this for April Fools?
@Harrison No?