On Monday night, Kris Jenkins got to live out the dream of every kid who plays basketball growing up.
Just seconds after seeing North Carolina’s Marcus Paige bury an off-balanced, double-clutch three to tie the game with 4.7 seconds remaining, Ryan Arcidiacono brought the ball up the court for Villanova. As Arcidiacono approached the top of the key, he dumped it off to Jenkins, the trailer, who rose and fired from the right wing.
A bank off the side of the rim and then nothing but nylon.
Jenkins’ shot was pure as the buzzer sounded. The confetti cannons went off almost simultaneously. A hoarse Jim Nantz’s voice cracked as he tried to call the chaos. Jay Wright became the coaching equivalent of the guy in action movies who calmly walks away from an explosion.
It was a shot that will live on forever to end a game that will be remembered as one of the greatest NCAA championship games to ever be played.
Jenkins’ bucket was truly historic; never before had a national title game been decided quite like that. Keith Smart’s jumper to give Indiana the win over Syracuse in 1987 was sensational, but it came with roughly four seconds left. Lorenzo Charles gave North Carolina State a national championship in 1983 with a dunk at the buzzer, though it came off an air ball by Dereck Whittenburg. And in 2008, Kansas’ Mario Chalmers buried a three with 2.1 seconds left against Memphis, though even that only tied the game and sent it to overtime.
Never before has there been a game winner quite like this. While the greatness of a particular game or moment can be overstated in the immediate aftermath, that isn’t the case here. We’re talking about a shot that has the potential to rival Christian Laettner’s buzzer beater in March Madness lore. The only place where Jenkins’ shot is surpassed is the alternate universe where Gordon Hayward’s half-court heave at the buzzer banked in to give Butler a win over Duke in 2010.
However, Monday’s game was so much more than just Jenkins’ buzzer beater, as memorable and significant as it was. It was a back-and-forth affair all throughout, with each team throwing punches and counterpunches. The officiating was inconsistent and dicey at best, and will be a point of contention for North Carolina fans for years to come, but it certainly wasn’t egregious enough to cast a cloud over the game as a whole.
But perhaps the most amazing part of the game, other than the buzzer beater, is how quickly the narrative surrounding Paige’s shot changed. Had Jenkins not hit his shot on the ensuing possession and North Carolina went on to win in overtime, Paige’s acrobatic bucket would have been re-aired every March come tournament time. Instead, it will go down as a mere footnote, forever overshadowed by Jenkins’ heroics.
As for Villanova, the national championship game was the culmination of one of the most impressive tournament runs in recent memory.
The Wildcats steamrolled their way into the Elite Eight, winning the first three games of the tournament by an average margin of victory of 24 points. Once there, Villanova outlasted a Kansas team that was the favorite to win the national title heading into the tournament to advance to its first Final Four since 2009.
The Wildcats would, of course, go on to rout Buddy Hield and the Oklahoma Sooners 95-51, the biggest margin of victory in Final Four history, before going on to beat the Tar Heels.
But Villanova didn’t just win its first national championship since 1985; it also totally changed the national narrative surrounding the program. In recent years, the Wildcats have been best known for early NCAA Tournament exits and crying piccolo girl. And although Wright already had a Final Four trip on his résumé, “GQ Jay” was best known for his impeccable fashion sense and, unfair as it may be, his inability to win come tournament time.
That narrative is dead and gone. Kris Jenkins will forever be a March Madness legend. Ryan Arcidiacono got the storybook ending to his collegiate career. Jay Wright has silenced his detractors and will start to get the credit he deserves. Crying piccolo girl has been redeemed. The Villanova Wildcats are national champions after a sensational NCAA Tournament run, capped of by one of the wildest finishes in national championship game history.
