GREGORY L. MUELLER

Mueller at 2011 Univ. S. Carolina performance

ACRODUNK would not be what it is if not for the contribution of the performers who have blessed us with their giftedness.  Gregory Mueller is one of many who have made a particular mark.  As I think about the progress we’ve made, the challenges we’ve overcome and the future that lies ahead of us - I am reminded of how strong we are because of Greg being on our team.

His maturity, professionalism and presentation skills are just the beginning of the depth of his abilities.  As an MC, he is polished, knowledgeable, professional and thorough.  He is able to develop rapport with all the various audiences we perform for from 1st graders at elementary schools to families gathered at festivals and fairs to millions of viewers watching us on TV.

More than all of his other skills and abilities, the core of Greg’s effectiveness is that he is a problem solver.

He quickly considers the tools we need,  the skills we need and the people we should call.  He has the uncanny ability to quickly see a variety of options and assess their viability in light of the objective we want to achieve.  Because he understands what ACRODUNK is about, he is also quickly able to consider and then discard those options that would compromise our integrity and go against what we stand for.  

As an acrobatic dunker, Mueller is a double through the legs master.  His signature ability is that he can finish any pass with a double through the legs dunk.  Any pass!  As a non gymnast, Mueller had to go way out of his comfort zone to learn how to flip dunk.  Over the years and 1000’s of shows later, he can pretty much flip dunk blind folded and clutch-dunk solo and off the pass.

There is a certain level of comfort that comes from having teammates that know what the hell they are doing and will pick up the slack when necessary.  Mueller is one of the few players in the game that can do it all.  Having provided leadership over the course of many hundreds of shows, he has experienced a multitude of challenges that give him a breadth and scope of experience unmatched by others in the game.

There are students enrolled in college right now because they were inspired by Greg Mueller.  There are young people pursuing their dreams right now because they were convinced that they matter by Greg Mueller.  There are dudes in the acrobatic dunk game who have taken their skills to a higher level because they were taking notes from Greg Mueller.

Not to discount any of our other teammates who all bring something special to the table, I have often thought how much greater our team would be if we had a few more Greg Muellers in the mix.  Greg, thank you for being the amazingly committed teammate that you have been over the years.  ACRODUNK and I appreciate you!

Check out the video below with Mueller heading the effort to make a difference in the lives of a local Houston Family.  As we were preparing to set a world record, our biggest challenge was what to do with the basketballs after we dunked them so we wouldn't land on them.  His suggestion to create a chute of some kind to carry the balls out of the performance area is what ultimately led to the ingenious solution we ended up using.