Longwood senior forward Shaquille Johnson has been selected as one of eight participants in the 2016 State Farm College Slam Dunk Championship, which will air on ESPN on Thursday at 9 p.m.

The Slam Dunk Championship is part of the State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championship and brings together the top dunkers in all of college basketball to compete at the site of the NCAA Final Four just days before the national semifinals.

This year’s contest, produced by Intersport, takes place at the Berry Center in Cypress, Texas, where Johnson will square off against a field that so far includes Deuce Bello of East Tennessee State University, Devan Douglas of University of Mary and Yunio Barruetta of Barry University.

“This is a huge opportunity not only for Shaq, but for Longwood University too,” said Longwood’s third-year head coach Jayson Gee.

“Those who have followed our program over the past two years know the unbelievable things Shaq can do with a basketball, and in one week he will be doing it on a national stage in a Longwood uniform. Short of hosting the vice presidential debate on our campus in October, this will put Longwood on possibly the biggest stage in school history.”

The 6-5, 220-pound Johnson is no stranger to dunk contests, having won the 2011 Under Armour Dunk Contest that aired on ESPN. He has been ranked as the No. 4 dunker in all of college basketball by CollegeBasketballTalk on NBCSports.com.

In two seasons at Longwood, Johnson averaged 12.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. A native of Atlanta, Ga., and a sociology major, he threw down 48 dunks in 54 games as a Lancer during a career in which he was twice named to the Big South All-Tournament Team. As a senior, Johnson was the only player in the Big South to average at least 10.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in conference play.

As a participant in this year’s State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championship, Johnson joins a long list of college basketball’s biggest names who have participated in the previous 27 events, including Gary Payton, Steve Nash, Jason Terry, Kyle Korver, Aaron Brooks, Bobby Hurley, Michael Finley and Damon Stoudamire.

Johnson will be the first player in Longwood basketball history to compete in the contest and only the fourth from the Big South. He joins High Point’s Corey Law (2013), UNC Asheville’s John Williams (2011) and Coastal Carolina’s Tony Dunkin. Williams has the highest finish among that group, placing second in the 2011 competition.