‘We’re ready’: Viral trick-shot artists, college cornhole champs eye title in Myrtle Beach
Branson Oliver and Dustin Travis got plenty of notoriety for becoming the first-ever collegiate national cornhole champions in 2018 in Myrtle Beach.
Since, the Jacksonville State duo’s fame has only grown thanks to trick shot videos that have received millions of views through social media.
“I saw some trick shot videos on Facebook and thought ‘I might could try this,’” said Oliver who, along with Travis, was prepping to defend the national championship doubles title this weekend at the Myrtle Beach Sports Center. “They had a bottle cap challenge, where people would knock off the bottle cap, so I started with that.
“After that, I was like ‘Hey, let’s keep doing this and see where it goes.’”
Now, the duo from White Plains, Alabama has several sponsorship deals and is featured in an American Cornhole League and Subway video that shows off their trick shots. The stunts include throwing a bean bag from the JSU football stadium stands down onto the field and into the hole of the cornhole board, a jet ski throw onto the bank of a river, and a toss through a moving hoop before going in the hole of the board.
Even before the ACL/Subway video, the trick shots were getting millions of views via Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
“It’s been a fun ride doing trick shots and stuff,” Oliver said.
This weekend, however, there’s more on the line. A year after winning the National College Cornhole Championship and scholarship money, Oliver and Travis are attempting to do it again. The teammates entered last year’s tournament without expectations but know that this year is different.
“It puts a little more pressure because in everybody else’s eyes we should do it again,” Travis said of winning last year.
Oliver said he was introduced to cornhole by a friend living nearby whose family was big into the game. They eventually built Oliver his own boards and he later went on to play in tournaments.
“The first tournament I ever played I was like so nervous. I was like ‘These guys are good,’” said Oliver, who quickly rose to the No. 1 ranking in the Central Alabama Cornhole Club. “I ended up coming in third in that tournament so I was like ‘Hey, I guess I’m pretty good. I can hang with these guys.’”
Travis, Oliver’s high school friend, soon got interested and joined in. He said he learned quickly that in tournaments this was not merely a “backyard game,” a realization the duo said not a lot of people are aware of.
“When we won last year, everybody was like on Twitter saying ‘I didn’t even know cornhole was a sport,’ ‘I didn’t know they played cornhole on ESPN,’ but it helped pay for our school,” Oliver said. “There’s pros making great money playing cornhole. Some people make a living from playing cornhole. So if you get good and play all the time you can earn a lot of money.
“The best part about cornhole for me is traveling all these places, meeting new people, experiencing these new environments and stuff.”
Aside from the Internet trolls, the duo’s response from winning last year has been positive. They said they received championship rings from the university and have been publicly honored several times.
“Everybody thinks it’s really cool,” said Travis, a business management major.
The teammates say one of their keys to winning is remaining stoic and calm while other players let their emotions get the best of them. As Oliver said, last year they might have been the only ones drinking beer while playing.
“It just feels like you’re in the backyard playing cornhole, just relaxed and calm and throwing cornhole,” Oliver said of kicking a few back.
Still, Oliver and Travis were stunned after winning last year.
“When we first got here we felt like underdogs and I felt like it was going to be the best of the best college players here. And there were some stout competition here, so once we won it we were just like ‘Did we just win that?’” said Oliver, an occupational health and safety major. “It’s kind of like a surreal moment. We were just playing in the moment kind of. We had just won a big game so we didn’t realize it.
“Later that night we were just like ‘We’re national champions. We just won the national championship for cornhole.’”
Oliver finished runner-up as an individual last year, while Travis placed ninth in that format.
The duo — both 23-year-olds targeting 2021 graduation dates — say they have eligibility to play one more year after this tournament. Whether or not they’ll go into the 2020 event looking to become three-peat winners will be determined this weekend.
“We definitely have a target on our back right now being the reigning champions, but we’re just going to go in and play our game and know how we play,” said Oliver who, along with Travis, is sponsored by Old Row and Kanga Coolers. “People’s going to be shooting for us and trying to beat us and give us their all. We’re ready for it. Whatever happens, happens, but we’re just going to hope for the best.”
Competition for the event began Friday and continues through Sunday night, and portions — noon Saturday (ESPNU) and 1 p.m. (ESPN) and 7 p.m. (ESPN2) Sunday — will be nationally televised.
This story was originally published December 28, 2019 at 3:33 PM.
