2005. Conference USA Men’s Basketball Championship game. Memphis vs. Louisville. Calipari vs. Pitino.
The game came down to its final seconds, and after Louisville missed a free throw to go up by three, Memphis’s freshman point guard Darius Washington Jr. took the ball the length of the floor. Stopping at the three-point line, Washington rose in the midst of three defenders and got his shot off. The shot clanked left and the clock hit zero.
But Washington had been fouled, and since the shot had been a 3-pointer, he had three shots to win the game. Three straight makes and Memphis would be the conference champ. Washington, a 72 percent free throw shooter calmly made the first and held his follow through, a ballsy move for a freshman on a national stage with two more free throws to make.
He missed the second. You could see his body immediately tense up as he turned to Calipari for support. He stepped to the line for his third attempt. The ball danced on the front of the rim for a moment, before falling to the floor. Seconds later, Washington was on the floor, head in his jersey, his body limp as his teammates and coach tried to lift him up and support him. It was an image I’ll never forget.
On Saturday morning (excuse me, afternoon) I rolled over on my Rams sheets to check my (brand-new, life-changing) iPhone 6. It was around 3 p.m. and the Tiger Grotto had just opened, meaning it was time to rally the boys to go to the steam room. “Hold up real quick,” my buddy Mitch responded to my group text. “We’ve got Suitcase Mike on the ropes with less than a minute left.”
Screaming four-letter words at myself for not waking up earlier, I flipped on my TV. Mizzou had just called timeout with less than 20 seconds to go. These are the types of situations where coaches earn the bulk of those seven-figure paychecks. Those game-winning situations where you must draw up a play that gives your team literally the best shot at winning. I assumed the ball would be in Wes Clark’s hands at the top of the key with a ball screen from Johnathan Williams coming with less than 10 seconds to go. Out of that action, we would see what Anderson had drawn up to win the game.
The ball screen came, but before Mizzou could get a shot off, Arkansas wisely fouled. On the ensuing inbounds, Clark was able to find a baseline lane to the rim, and was fouled on the layup attempt. Clark would go to the line for two shots. Make both and Mizzou beats its biggest conference rival at home, a feat that could end up being Mizzou’s best win of the year.
Clark, a 73.7 percent free throw shooter stepped to the line for his first attempt. Rimmed out. My mind immediately flashed back to Washington’s limp body, sobbing in his jersey. _Please don’t make me watch something like that again,_ I thought to myself, _this poor guy is going to be distraught._ Clark went through his routine for his second shot. It seemed to me his body language was off. Clark set himself, and shot.
Short.
After the game I saw an image of Williams and Mizzou color man Gary Link walking Clark off the floor with Clark apparently sobbing into his jersey.
These are obviously different situations, teams, and circumstances. Obviously, Clark’s miss wasn’t as catastrophic as Washington’s. The fact remains that missed free throws left two young men in tears being helped off the floor.
The following year after Washington’s miss, he was first team all-conference and an honorable mention All-American as he helped lead Memphis to the Elite Eight.
Here’s to Clark sinking the next one.
