Immortality To Irrelevance: 4.7 Seconds That Changed Marcus Paige's Miracle Shot

Marcus Paige had just hit the miracle shot of all miracle shots. A one-footed, double-clutched, 25-foot 3-pointer to tie the national championship game with 4.7 seconds left. In almost everyone’s estimation, the senior had extended his college basketball career by at least five minutes. Monday night’s brilliant championship clash was headed to overtime.

And then it wasn’t.

In the blink of an eye, Paige’s incredible, improbable shot went from the front page to a footnote. Instead of being the story of the 2016 college basketball season, it was nothing more than a soliloquy before the climax, the set up before the punchline. He went from being in The Beatles to Pete Best. It only took 4.7 seconds for it to happen. Just 4.7 seconds.

With his North Carolina Tar Heels trailing the Villanova Wildcats by three, Paige worked to get open off of a screen by Brice Johnson. With Ryan Arcidiacono hounding him, and forward Daniel Ochefu helping off the screen, Paige looked boxed in. But Arcidiacono realized that Johnson had broken free after setting the screen, and he dove to the paint to help. That left Ochefu on Paige and when Joel Berry II sent a pass in the point guard’s direction, Ochefu dove to steal the ball. Big mistake.

Paige corralled the ball with 8.5 seconds left, saw daylight that shouldn’t have been there, took two quick dribbles and awkwardly jumped to fire a shot. At the last second, Arcidiacono recognized what was happening and closed out as fast as he could. That forced Paige to pump in midair, double clutching on the shot, ruining his rhythm. As he released the ball with 6.5 seconds left, Paige’s legs were spread awkwardly, his left knee was raised, the ball sunk to his shoulder and he launched it almost like a shot put. Then it hung there in the air, slowly falling like the time ball on New Year’s Eve.

Somehow, the shot fell inside of the rim’s heel and rattled home. Immediately, a cord stretching from Houston to Chapel Hill was electrified, causing an explosion. A buzz was audibly heard across America. Sound had feel and the public refrain was the same everywhere: “No. Way.”

It was an absolutely beautiful moment. One in which the entire sports world was unanimous in its awe of what had just happened. Goodbye Mario Chalmers, Marcus Paige had just become a household name and launched himself to stardom. ESPYs were coming his way, if the Tar Heels pulled this out in overtime we’d be seeing him on television next to Fallon, Colbert and Kimmel and that shot would be replayed for decades. The defining moment of a brilliant college basketball career was set.

And then it vanished. It took just 4.7 seconds for that world we all saw so clearly to come crashing down around Paige and the Tar Heels. Four point seven seconds.

We all know what happened next. Villanova inbounded the ball, Arcidiacono brought it up the court, then pitched the rock back to Kris Jenkins who nailed a deep 3-pointer as time expired to bring the Wildcats their first national title in 31 years.

Everyone was stunned at what we had just witnessed, no one more so than Paige.

After the game Paige summed it up about as well as anyone in that position could:

"“When you’re a kid growing up, you don’t dream of missing the last second shot, or you don’t dream of the other team beating you at the buzzer, You dream of having that moment, and that confetti, and seeing your family over there cry tears of joy. Hugging guys that you’ve had blood sweat and tears with for four years, and we were this close to that dream. It’s hard.”"

In the end, some of us will never forget Paige’s shot, or how awful the feeling must be for he and his teammates today. The rest of the world will remember Jenkins hitting the game-winner and his teammates celebrating on the floor of NRG Stadium. Paige’s amazing effort will be relegated to the shadows.

That really is a shame, because for a brief moment Paige had turned the entire sports world on its head. He was at the pinnacle of college basketball and a hero to millions. Just 4.7 seconds later all of that was gone forever.