With the 2016-17 college basketball season right around the corner, we’ll take a look back at the season that was last year, including who won the dramatic 2016 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Houston.
Kris Jenkins etched his name into Villanova lore and into Final Four history with his dramatic buzzer-beating shot to win the 2015-16 National Championship for the Wildcats last season.
Jenkins and the Wildcats outlasted the heavily-talented North Carolina Tar Heels in the title game, 77-74, and took home the school’s second national title ever.
What made the shot so special wasn’t just the play design from Villanova head coach Jay Wright. It wasn’t just Jenkins’ execution and the ice water in his veins to hit the shot.
Hell, the best part of the shot might not have even been the actual shot attempt.
It was the reaction of all who watched it go in.
Could you react any other way to that shot?
It’ll likely be a long, long time before we see another buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win a national title. The Villanova-North Carolina title game was one of the best championship games ever played on college basketball’s grandest stage at the Final Four.
In terms of dramatics, you’d probably have to go back to the 2010 Final Four in Indianapolis, where current Utah Jazz star Gordon Hayward almost hit the greatest shot in NCAA history with a half-court heave that just rimmed out eight miles from Butler University’s campus in Indianapolis, IN.
The difference for Villanova’s dramatics is, well … their prayer was answered.
The best part about all of this is that Villanova and North Carolina are just as high-powered as last season, so thoughts of a potential title game rematch are certainly on the table.
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Jenkins returns to the title-winning Wildcats, while North Carolina lost Marcus Paige (who hit a ridiculous shot in his own right just to tie the title game in the final seconds), but still landed a top-15 recruiting class for this season.