By Luke Almodovar, thankfully, is OK after a scary fall on Tuesday night in Nashville.
The Memphis guard went up for a dunk in the second half of their 105-81 loss to No. 22 Vanderbilt on Tuesday. But Almodovar lost his grip on the rim and came crashing down to the court, where he landed very awkwardly directly on his head.
Memorial Gym went silent as Almodovar remained down for quite some time. He eventually was helped up, and left for the locker room.
Dude from Memphis with giant hops is a joy to watch. Remember seeing his reel during his Missouri Valley Conference day at SEMO. Indiana kid from Noblesville played right near the @iu_mensBB. Almodovar can FLY. I’m a fan. Hope he’s not bruised up from another awesome dunk. pic.twitter.com/mEiiQRCGYO
— Goody (@chrisgoodman) November 11, 2026
While the moment was terrifying, Almodovar appears to have avoided any major injury. He even returned back to the bench for the end of the contest, but didn’t make it back into the game.
“I’ll be alright, [I was] a little woozy after,” Almodovar said, via the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I mean, [the trainer] told me I was down for about 45 seconds, which I don’t remember. But I should be alright … A lot worse things have happened to kids who kind of lose their control like that. I just thank God for keeping me safe.”
Almodovar finished with a team-high 21 points while shooting 7-of-14 from the field in the loss. The senior transferred in to Memphis after spending last season at Southeast Missouri State.
"It was a nasty fall," Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said. "You've got to hold on to the rim. You can't let that rim go. Just the way he jumped, a lot of momentum going forward. You've got to keep the rim. Fell and then kind of hit the back of his head. Ugly fall but just good to see him come back out on the court.
"That wasn't a good look, obviously. Because we just didn't want him to be hurt. That's an injury that could keep you out for a while. He's a super athlete. Tough guy. [I was] just hoping that he didn't land hard enough on his neck that it was going to put him in any kind of bad situation."
Ace Glass led Vanderbilt with 23 points, all of which came in the second half, in the win on Tuesday night. Glass helped power a 23-7 run to start the second half, too, which allowed them to blow the game wide open. The Commodores now sit at 3-0, and have won back-to-back games over the Tigers.
Memphis, after a four-point win over Iowa State to start the season, now sits at 2-1 on the year. The Tigers will take on No. 10 Louisville next on Sunday.
