After Nike confiscated the two videographers’ tapes that were rolling during the Dunk Heard Round The World, there was a slim chance it was ever going to see the light of day.

But thanks to a guy who filmed it off his cell phone — at least that’s what it appears to be from the poor quality — and sold it to TMZ, you can now feast your eyes on the dunk over on their site. It seems this was a third shooter, one Nike apparently didn’t know about.

But wait! There’s more!

Another site, eBaum Nation, has a much higher-quality video of the dunk from a better angle. Take a look at that here. Perhaps TMZ, which wasn’t supposed to put it up on their site until tonight after it debuted on their TV show, found out about eBaum Nation’s better video, so they decided to release theirs early. No word on where or how the eBaum people got their hands on it. Yet.

Anyway, enough about the particulars of where the video resides online. Let’s talk about the dunk. It’s anti-climatic. But that’s what everyone was expecting. The dunk was basically a Paul Bunyon-esque tall tale a few weeks back, but now that it’s right in front of our eyes, well, it’s not that great. Former Hoosier Jordan Crawford still dunked on LeBron James. But James was late sliding over in transition; he barely puts any effort into defending.

So yes. There you have it. Crawford gets his day in the sun. We all finally get to see the video. Now when is Hoosier Hysteria?

(You can listen to Crawford talk about the dunk here.)

The last time most Indiana University fans thought about Jordan Crawford was probably June 11, 2008. That was the day when Crawford announced he would not return to Bloomington for his sophomore season. Some of you probably cried when you realized that Kyle Taber was the last man standing.

Crawford decided a month later that he would transfer to Xavier and with Sean Miller’s departure for Arizona, he’ll suit up next year for first year coach Chris Mack.

When I think back about Crawford’s season at IU, two things immediately come to mind: 1) He was an incredibly talented and gifted player with a boatload of potential; and 2) He was often erratic and downright frustrating to watch. Some of you even referred to him as “TUO” or “The Undisciplined One.”

Based on point No. 1, it really didn’t surprise me that Crawford reportedly posterized LeBron James the other day in Akron. What did surprise me is the amount of coverage this dunk, which we will probably never see, is garnering across the Web. Here’s a healthy sampling:

+ Ryan writes at MOUTHPIECE blog that LeBron needs to lighten up. {MOUTHPIECE blog}

+ Chris Chase writes that by censoring the video, LeBron just made Crawford’s dunk into a legend. {The Dagger @ Yahoo!}

+ LeBron gets dunked on; none of us are witnesses. {Deadspin}

+ Nike doesn’t want you to know about Jordan Crawford, but Marquis Teague describes the dunk. {The Hoosier Scoop}

Around the Hall is recommended reading from the Inside the Hall crew.

+ Kyrie Irving backs off of comments that Indiana is his leader and says the Hoosiers are the “same as every other school.” {The Hoosier Scoop}

+ Irving tells Scout.com recruiting analyst Dave Telep that Indiana has made it clear that he’s their guy and that the Hoosiers are “all in.” {Scout.com, subscription required}

+ Former IU guard Jordan Crawford was the talk of the LeBron James Skills Academy after he dunked on the Cavs star — and then Nike confiscated the evidence. {CBS Sports}

+ Herald-Times sports editor Chris Korman writes that Crawford is no longer the happy-go-lucky kid that he was during his days in Bloomington. {Herald-Times, subscription required}

+ Indianapolis Pike point guard Marquis Teague is down to five schools: IU, Louisville, Ohio State, Purdue and Wake Forest. {The Hoosier Scoop}

+ Teague’s father, Shawn, tells the Indianapolis Star that Kentucky has offered and that his son hasn’t knocked any schools off of his list. {Indianapolis Star}

+ Lawrence North forward Dominique Ferguson refuses to say if he will return Jack Keefer’s program next season. {The Hoosier Scoop}

+ Jody Demling recaps day two of the adidas It Takes 5ive Classic. {C-J recruiting blog}

The Hoosiers are finishing up their cupcakes and the New Year is nearly upon us, which can mean only one thing: It’s Big Ten Preview Time! Here’s a look at the teams that will challenge the Hoosiers for the conference crown … or fall under the weighty boot of crimson dominance. Probably the latter. Today: THE Ohio State University.

See that handsome man to your right? That’s Greg Oden. He went to Ohio State last year and was real good. Now he’s in the NBA. So are fellow stellar freshman of a year ago, Daequan Cook and Mike Conley Jr. (Can you imagine if these guys stuck around this year? Next year? The year after? Wow.) Obviously, when you lose your starting point guard and an incredible presence down low in Oden, your team is going to take a big hit.

And that’s exactly where Ohio State is right now. The Buckeyes stand at 8-3 on the season — good, but not great. They had an embarrassing exhibition loss to Findlay back at the beginning of November and haven’t trumped anyone of note, save for a win against Florida at home last weekend. But, this is not to say Ohio State is devoid of weapons. Freshman Kosta Koufas is the big man up front, averaging just a pinch under 16 points a game. Jamar Butler and David Lighty are still doing their thing, too. Also, watch out for freshman Scrappy McScrapperson Jon Diebler. Take a look at his bio. Dude put up some insane numbers as a high schooler in Ohio. He scored 77 points in a game once and holds the Ohio record for most career points. (Take that LeBron James.)

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