Jalen Suggs banking an overtime game winner to send Gonzaga to the men’s NCAA Championship game will be an indelible memory for many fans.
A generation ago, Gonzaga and UCLA gave us a different lasting image during the men’s NCAA Tournament: A gangly, long-haired, mustachioed kid who’d played his heart out breaking down in tears, right there on the court.
In the 2006 Sweet 16, the Bulldogs had built a 17-point lead but saw it wilt away in the second half, and Adam Morrison’s brilliant college career came to a sudden end. He wept.
Morrison is a radio broadcaster for Gonzaga now, and his reaction to Sugg’s shot dropping is an instant classic:
Jalen Suggs' all-time game-winner against UCLA called by Gonzaga's IMG radio team of Tom Hudson and Adam Morrison (yes, that Adam Morrison): pic.twitter.com/DBtqdFjenL
— Brian Fonseca (@briannnnf) April 4, 2021
There’s a little bit of redemption in those shouts.
In case you’d forgotten about that other UCLA-Gonzaga classic — or were too young to watch it at the time — here’s the closing sequence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt0VUSyVIr4
Morrison breaking down on the court happens around the 4:25 mark. UCLA star Aaron Afflalo eventually came over to hoist Morrison off the court, captured in the photo at the top of this story.
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