I had been waiting for this moment my whole life. My family was there to watch, friends and classmates along with a million others who were viewing this televised event. This was the NCAA national championship game, in the sold out Madison Square Garden. I led my team, the Temple Owls to this final possession with 11 seconds on the clock in a tied game with the Duke Blue Devils. I could barely hear my coach in the huddle because the crowd was still rockin’ from the turnover I forced on the other team to give us the last shot. I faintly heard my coach call the play for me to come off the screen to take the last shot. As the buzzer sounds for us to break the huddle I remember how big the stadium felt as I tried to maintain my composure knowing the game was in my hands. After the ball was inbounded, we executed our play to perfection as I came off the screen with an open look and three seconds left on the clock. I catch the ball and shoot the shot I’ve shot over a thousand times. The arena goes silent as I hold my follow through and watch the ball on its path to the rim. The ball hits front rim, momentum gives it a slight bounce and drops in the net. My teammates rush me and take me to the ground celebrating with the rest of the crowd as they storm the court. I had been waiting on this moment my whole life.

I had been waiting on this moment my whole life. My family was there to watch, friends and classmates along with a million others who were viewing this televised event. This was the NCAA national championship game, in the sold out Madison Square Garden. This was the NCAA national championship game, in the sold out Madison Square Garden. I led my team, the Temple Owls to this final possession with 11 seconds on the clock in a tied game with the Duke Blue Devils. I could barely hear my coach in the huddle because the crowd was still rockin’ from the turnover I forced that allowed the Blue devils to tie the game. Despite all the noise, I knew he was yelling about the turnover. Then he called the play for me to come off the screen and take the last shot. As the buzzer sounds for us to break the huddle I remember how small I felt in the stadium as I was so nervous about taking the last shot knowing the game was in my hands. After the ball was inbounded, the defense was prepared and interrupted the play. I finally got open with only three seconds left on the clock. . The arena goes silent as I hold my follow through and watch the ball on its path to the rim. The ball hits front rim, and falls short. Duke began celebrating with the rest of the crowd as they storm the court. I had been waiting on this moment my whole life.