It's quite frequent that basketball fans will see an emphatic block during a game. But a block with a shoe? That's a new one.
During Wednesday's game between Purdue Fort Wayne and Southern Indiana, Purdue Fort Wayne guard Rasheed Bello achieved the feat when he blocked a shot while holding his shoe.
Rasheed Bello. The first player to ever record a block with a shoe? Send this shoe to Springfield, Mass.#FeelTheRumble #HLMBB pic.twitter.com/BF44qmdpPY
— Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons Basketball (@MastodonMBB) December 7, 2023
Bello had lost his shoe during the defensive possession and picked it up while still playing defense. When Southern Indiana's Jack Campion hoisted up a shot, Bello put his hand up in an attempt to block it and ended up rejecting it with his shoe in his hand.
"I've never seen that before in my life, and even the referee said he's never seen it before," Southern Indiana head coach Stan Gouard told Anthony Kristensen of The Courier & Press. "A first in my 25 years of coaching. Never saw it before."
According to Kristensen, Southern Indiana's public address announcer, Zane Clodfelter stated that the play was completely legal since Bello didn't throw the shoe at any point.
Purdue Fort Wayne came away with a 70-57 win against Southern Indiana in addition to having a block for the ages.
