Voting open for WWU's Rico Wilkins in the State Farm Dark Horse Dunker competition on ESPN

Western Washington University senior guard Rico Wilkins is one of the nominees for the "State Farm Dark Horse Dunker" competition, Intersport announced today. "State Farm Dark Horse Dunker" nominees are under-the-radar players who have what it takes to compete against the D-I field in Atlanta. The winner will participate in the Denny's Slam Dunk Competition at the State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships in Atlanta at 7 p.m. ET April 4 on ESPN.

Sixteen dunkers have been selected to compete in the "State Farm Dark Horse Dunker" Facebook bracket, which is a five-week knockout competition. Fans will determine the winner by voting during each round at the official Facebook page.

Wilkins is facing-off against Northwood's Ra'Shad James in round one. Go online to watch James and Wilkins in action and to vote for them or any of the other competitors. Voting for round one ends Monday, Feb. 25.

Wilkins, who won the slam-dunk contest at the school's annual Viking Jam in October, is coming off the bench to average 9.8 points on 41.7 percent 3-point shooting (35-of-84) for the defending NCAA Division II national champion Vikings, who are unbeaten in 22 games this season and ranked No.2 in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 Poll. WWU is riding a school-record 28-game winning streak.

Two years in a row, the State Farm Dark Horse Dunker moved on to win the entire Denny's Slam Dunk Competition. Last year, James Justice from Martin Methodist College won the 16-player Dark Horse Dunker bracket before bringing down the house in New Orleans, while Jacob Tucker of Illinois College was named the 2011 champion. Both dunkers are now members of the Harlem Globetrotters. To view Justice's performance visit http://youtu.be/BS737iP9AzY, while Tucker's classic slams are available at http://bit.ly/i80vU0.

For questions about the Facebook competition or the television show, contact Nick Owen at nowen@intersportnet.com or 312-644-5231.