This Is What It's Like to Ball With "The Professor"

For those cocky enough to ever believe they could D-up the slickest ballhandler they ever saw, you may get the opportunity thanks to virtual reality.

The Professor Virtual Reality Mountain Dew
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The Professor Virtual Reality Mountain Dew 1

The Professor Virtual Reality Mountain Dew

When you hear the name Grayson Boucher, you may imagine an ordinary white guy with a 9-to-5 desk job. But those familiar with streetball know Boucher as “The Professor,” a modern day legend who starred in the AND1 Mixtape Tour back in the early 2000s.

And for those cocky enough to ever believe they could D-up the slickest ballhandler they ever saw, you may get the opportunity thanks to virtual reality. Complex Sports recently got the chance to check out Mountain Dew’s upcoming game “Got Handles” that allows you to experience what it’s like to meet The Professor on the asphalt as the soft-drink company partnered up with the Emmy-winning VR Studio Secret Location to create a 360 VR gaming experience so streetball junkies can live out their ultimate dreams.

While wearing the VR headsets, players are transported into a warehouse (the true street basketball setting) where you get a 1-on-1 lesson from The Professor and get acquainted with the VR controllers, learning how to dribble and pull off a crossover.

you just might get challenged to a HORSE-like dribbling competition where you try and imitate the Professor’s actual moves.

After a few quick lessons, the game escalates quickly as you get challenged to learn The Professor's signature moves like the “Spider-Dribble” and the “Moses-Move.” Combining live-action and gameplay elements into one cohesive experience, you just might get challenged to a HORSE-like dribbling competition where you try and imitate the Professor’s actual moves.

After a few minutes into it, you find yourself so invested that you completely forgot it was virtual reality.The headset tunes out all external stimulation and it becomes as if you are actually one-on-one with The Professor. He assigns different combinations of dribbles that you must complete before the time runs out and the cleaner the execution of the dribbles the higher the points you get.

What is pretty amazing about the game is how realistic the movements are. With a controller in each hand, you get a free range of motion, so you can move your hands around as if you are actually dribbling. As you pass the ball to yourself and try to attempt crossovers and the “Spider-Dribble,” the system accurately tracks your hand placement and makes the video game seem like it's real.

So if you want to live out your childhood dream of being a professional streetballer, keep an eye out the coming weeks for Mountain Dew’s “Got Handles,” available on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Google Daydream.

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