The greatest shot in NCAA history.

Many of my readers may probably be too young to remember what many sports historians refer to as college basketball’s greatest shot. I myself, wasn’t born yet when that happened, but I’ve heard stories and I’ve seen the footage. And I have to agree. “The Shot” is the shot.


It was the quarterfinals of the 1992 NCAA Tourney, and the Blue Devils from Duke battled it out against Wildcats of Kentucky. Everyone expected the Blue Devils to end the game even before the halftime bell rang, but the Wildcats were prepared for war. Kentucky played like they had nothing to lose, and it worked to their favor.

The entire game was a close back-and-forth affair, with a number of hard fouls and controversial calls, the most memorable of which being Christian Laettner’s foot stomp on Aminu Timberlake’s chest. Laettner wasn’t thrown out of the game, and this stroke of luck would pay huge dividends for the Blue Devils in the end.


The game going into overtime wasn’t surprising at all, with the Wildcats trying to land their knockout punch but Laettner not having it. He carried Duke on his back. With 2.1 seconds to go, Sean Woods gave Kentucky a one-point lead.

Grant Hill inbounded the ball from behind the board of Kentucky, hurling one of the greatest passes in college basketball history. Laettner caught the 70-foot pinpoint pass at the top of the key, dribbled once, faked once, turned and took “The Shot.” And the rest was hoops history.


Randall Benjamin is an athlete from Las Vegas, Nevada. To learn more about him and his interests, check out this page.

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