Fans go wild as Ace Bailey throws down "absurd" dunk on Purdue player: "This kid is insane"; "Absolutely disgusting"

Rutgers Scarlet Knights freshman Ace Bailey is highly-touted as one of the best rookies of the entirety of the 2024-2025 season. The first-year guard is best known for his knockdown scoring at all three levels, coupled with his unparalleled athleticism that his gotten the attention of many in the college basketball landscape.

Bailey's stellar play was once again on display on Tuesday when his unranked squad matched up against the No. 18 Purdue Boilermakers on the road for their penultimate conference fixture. In the 13:19 mark of the first half, the spitfire scorer buckled up for an athletic reverse dunk when he beat sophomore Camden Heide to the rim.

Check out the full highlight by Ace Bailey below:

The highlight finish sent college basketball fans wild on X/Twitter, sharing their reactions to the one-handed acrobatic reverse slam.

"This is absurd," one fan said.

"Bruhh this kid is insane," another fan wrote.

"Absolutely disgusting," one fan added.

"Ewwwwwwwwwwwww," another fan commented.

Some fans then started to compare him to freshmen counterparts and their contributions to their team's overall success.

"Proof that Cooper Flagg is NOT the only talented freshman player," one fan said.

"Projected top-3 pick in the NBA Draft," another fan wrote.

"Yeah Clifford Omoruyi is on the seventh ranked Alabama squad right now, but I’ll never forgive him for leaving Rutgers when he’s literally a perfect piece to this team! They would’ve lived up to the hype, and Rutgers would probably have a good run in March. (Sorry my RU side came out)," one fan expressed.

Despite the awe-inspiring jam, the Steve Pikiel-coached team still went on to lose by a staggering 29 points, 100-71, for their 12th loss of the 2025 Big Ten conference, and 16th overall. Still, Bailey had a respectable outing with 12 markers and two rebounds once again as a starter for his squad.

Ace Bailey, Scarlet Knights still looking to finish the campaign strong

With their lowly records putting them on the lower tier of the Big Ten conference, the unranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights' hopes of making the national tournament are looking slim to none. This doesn't reflect the overall talent of the team, however, as they are fielding two first-year players that are considered to be top draft picks in this year's NBA draft, should they declare for it.

On the campaign, Ace Bailey is tallying 18.2 points, a team-high 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.3 blocks per contest. His backcourt running mate Dylan Harper, meanwhile, is averaging a team-high 19.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 4.0 apg and 1.4 spg.

Rutgers' final game of the regular season will be on Sunday against the Minnesota Golden Gophers where they will hope to bounce back and pick up the win in front of their home crowd.