No stars? Nobody cares. Villanova captured its first national championship since 1985 in ridiculous fashion.
Everybody’s definition of a star is different. To some, it’s a flickering light high in the sky, something that can never be reached, felt or touched. To others, it’s a human being, one that achieves great things, standing above the rest and shining the brightest.
Villanova had neither of those things. They weren’t able to reach the constellations and they didn’t have someone who shined brighter than everyone else.
Instead, the Wildcats went into the national championship game as a team, playing team basketball, acting as a unit and working towards a common goal. Standing their way was a team that has seemingly reached those stars in the sky and had their own stars.
It didn’t matter. In one of the most chaotic, entertaining sequences in college basketball history, the Villanova Wildcats fought tooth and nail, literally until the final buzzer, to knock off the North Carolina Tar Heels 77-74, capturing the program’s first national championship since 1985.
FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!! https://t.co/QXjPTrQN6Y #NationalChampionship
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 5, 2016
After Marcus Paige hit a circus three to tie the game at 74 with 4.7 seconds left in regulation, senior leader Ryan Arcidiacono took the inbounds, dribbled up the court and, instead of taking the last second shot himself — something he’s earned the right to do — dished it off to Kris Jenkins.
Jenkins stopped, rose up and with beautiful form, sank the game-winning three, lifting up his arms in triumph as he was embraced by teammates and confetti.
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After everything he’s done for Villanova, helping turn the program back into a winning one after a down period suffered after their 2009 Final Four loss to these same Tar Heels, Arcidiacono could’ve taken the last shot.
He could’ve stopped and popped, or bullied his way into the paint and taken the shot, but his pass to Jenkins, the trust in his teammate to hit the shot, is the perfect representation for his career: doing whatever it takes to win the game.
Even with all his success, a Big East Player of the Year, a two-time all-conference performer and considered one of the toughest players in the nation, Arcidiacono wasn’t considered “star” enough to lead Villanova to a title.
Even with all his success, a two-time Naismith Coach of the Year, a five-time Big East Coach of the Year, Jay Wright didn’t “have what it takes” to win the big one.
Even with their sheer dominance of every NCAA tournament opponent before North Carolina, very few saw Villanova as a legitimate championship team. They were simply a group of talented players with nobody to lead them, take over a game and be the star.
What the heck do those guys know.
Having a “star,” by whatever definition someone wants to use, doesn’t guarantee success. If it did, the Final Four would’ve been Kentucky, Oklahoma, LSU and Michigan State, but just one of those teams made it to Houston and the Wildcats made them look like chumps.
Villanova is now the first team to win a national championship without a single player on any of the Associated Press All-America teams since Kansas in 2008 and just the fifth such team in the last 30 years.
Not having a “star” didn’t matter.
None of the stats really matter. We could break down how UNC allowed Villanova to go up by 10 late in the second half. Or how Phil Booth‘s 20 points off the bench were 14 more points than the entire Tar Heel bench provided. Or how the Wildcats once again shot 58 percent from the field for the game.
But the stats don’t tell the story. Ironically, the story is one that many have been trying to force upon college basketball over the past few weeks. “You can’t win without a star,” they said. You can … and the Wildcats did.
What Monday’s championship game was was a stirring indictment of what the entire 2015-16 college basketball season was. Everything you thought you knew meant nothing quicker than it was validated. The teams you thought had no shot had a better chance than ever to get something done. The freshmen that hog most of the spotlight were overshadowed by the fourth- and fifth-year seniors.
And the team nobody believed in entering March became the one you could count on regardless of the situation.
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Whatever your definition of a star is, Villanova had it. It just might not fit your neat little bow.
One shot will live in college basketball history, but one team will be remembered as the champion.