USF Athletics

The Shot Remains a Vivid Memory

November 23, 2020

By JOEY JOHNSTON
Special to USF Athletics

TAMPA, NOVEMBER 23, 2020 – Nearly nine months later, even from half a world away, former USF men's basketball player Laquincy Rideau still thinks about the shot.
 
Excuse me.
 
The Shot!
 
"It comes to my mind all the time, every single day,'' said Rideau, now a professional player in Luxembourg. "And just about every time, I'm asking myself, 'How did that even happen?' I couldn't imagine a better finish to a game.''
 
Even if you weren't among the 3,587 fans at the Yuengling Center for USF's regular-season finale on March 7, you've probably been awed by the highlights of Rideau's impossible 3-point buzzer-beater that lifted the Bulls past the SMU Mustangs 61-60, completing a ridiculous comeback from a seven-point deficit with 24 seconds to play.
 
And yes, in another once-in-a-lifetime thrill for Rideau, it even earned the dreamed-about validation as No. 2 on ESPN's nightly list of top 10 plays.
 
"I remember that shot in the air, like time was frozen, like the whole arena went silent for a second, and it became this complete storybook ending,'' USF's Justin Brown said.
 
"It was like a scene from a movie,'' USF's Alexis Yetna said. "They could make a movie about it.''
 
"I've played a lot of basketball games in my life, but I've never seen anything like that,'' USF's David Collins said.
 
The memory has lingered. And why not? It was arguably the greatest shot in USF program history. No one knew it then, but it also became the season's final act.
 
With the red-hot Bulls perhaps prepared for a postseason run, the dawn of COVID-19 cancelled the American Athletic Conference Tournament at Fort Worth, Texas, along with all of March Madness. USF was scheduled for the opening-day noon game against UCF, but it was called off shortly after the Bulls reached the arena.
 
As another season draws near, there's pent-up excitement surrounding USF men's basketball.
 
Yetna is healthy. The Bulls have four returning starters. They feature a blue-chip freshman and three potentially impactful transfers.
 
The Bulls are seeking to bury the frustration of a 14-17 finish. That's the big-picture view. But in last season's small picture?
 
You must consider the backstory. The Bulls, coming off a program-record 24-win season, played the entire campaign without Yetna, who blew out his knee days before the season opener. They never got over the hump, suffering seven defeats by a total of 28 points.
 
In the second half, the Bulls led Memphis by 14 points and Cincinnati by 13 … only to see both advantages slip away into defeat. They were stunned on an overtime tip-in against a Utah State team that won 26 games. They led by 10 points with six minutes remaining, but were overtaken by a Florida State team that would win the Atlantic Coast Conference title.
 
As the regular-season finale approached, things finally seemed to be coming together for the Bulls. They had won two of their last three games and seemed poised to avenge a New Year's Day 82-68 defeat against SMU in Dallas.
 
But even before the opening tip, USF's problems were mounting.
 
It was Senior Night, a chance to honor Rideau and Antun Maricevic, a quietly efficient big man, in pregame ceremonies. Senior Night was always dicey, especially for an emotional player such as Rideau.
 
"I wanted to play well so badly,'' Rideau said. "I had a lot of family coming. I had a lot on my mind.''
 
Then things got more complicated.
 
He had just arrived at the Yuengling Center locker room and was getting his mind right before the pregame shoot-around. He noticed his phone was blowing up. Desperate message after desperate message from his mother.
 
There was an accident and a traffic backup near their home in West Palm Beach. They were hopelessly delayed. No way they cold make the Senior Night ceremony in time.
 
Rideau, distracted and upset, found USF coach Brian Gregory and explained the situation. Gregory instinctively knew what to do. Senior Night would become a postgame ceremony. Rideau instantly calmed down.
 
Gregory knew it wasn't ideal.
 
What if USF was defeated? Some fans might not wait around. Senior Night would be incredibly awkward. But there was no choice.
 
At least, Gregory reasoned, there wouldn't be the concern of being overcome by pregame emotions. Perhaps the Bulls could get off to a quick start and take command.
 
Perhaps not.
 
SMU raced to a 10-0 lead. The Bulls missed their first seven shots. It began like a nightmare.
 
Then it morphed into a normal-looking competitive game. The Bulls rallied, even briefly taking the first-half lead. It stayed tight and USF led 42-39 on Maricevic's layup with 9:02 remaining.
 
SMU began rolling with a 14-2 run and USF went cold, missing seven consecutive field-goal attempts. The Mustangs had a seemingly commanding nine-point lead with 3:54 left.
 
From there, it was one step forward, two steps back. The Bulls were fiercely determined, although nothing was working well. SMU couldn't pull away, but the Bulls seemed unable to mount a realistic threat.
 
The Mustangs pulled ahead 60-53 on Isiaha Mike's free throw with 42 seconds left.
 
USF cycled the ball around the perimeter. One annoyed front-row fan stood up and yelled, "What are you doing? Shoot!''
 
Rashun Williams let fly from 3-point range. It was off. Zack Dawson grabbed the offensive rebound and funneled it to Collins, who was fouled by Feron Hunt with 24 seconds remaining.
 
Seven-point deficit?
 
Twenty-four seconds remaining?
 
It looked like a game that was almost mercifully over.
 
In truth, things were just beginning.
 
Gregory said it best.
 
"If you coach long enough, you see just about everything,'' he said.
 
But nobody had seen anything like what was about to happen.
 
Collins was at the line.
 
"I thought we still had a chance, but I knew I had to make them both,'' Collins said.
 
Swish.
 
Swish.
 
It was 60-55.
 
SMU's Ethan Chargois was pressured on the inbound play. No one was open. He signaled for a time out. Too late. Five-second call. USF possession.
 
Rideau, under USF's basket, inbounded it to mid-court, where Dawson advanced it to the 3-point stripe and fired. No good. Missed opportunity. There was a scramble. Precious seconds ticked away. SMU grabbed possession and called another time out. Now there were 14 seconds left and USF's chances seemed extremely unrealistic with a five-point deficit.
 
SMU's Mike tried to throw the inbounds, but USF's pressure was again unrelenting. In the time out, Mustangs coach Tim Jankovich told Mike to throw it deep if there was too much pressure. That way, there could be a touch, more time would run off and that would probably seal the game.
 
Mike went deep.
 
Really deep.
 
His baseball pass caromed off the overhead scoreboard.
 
Possession to USF. That door was ajar.
 
Rideau triggered the baseline inbounds play. The call was Cookie 4. "The cookie jar was open,'' Gregory said. Rideau bounced it to Brown, who sliced to the basket, made the runner with 12.1 seconds to play … and, incredibly, drew a foul from Mike.
 
Brown's free throw cut SMU's lead to 60-58 with 12.1 seconds remaining.
 
"I can't believe how this game is playing out,'' USF play-by-play man Jim Lighthall said on the radio call.
 
It was crazy. There was time. But still, USF needed big-time assistance. SMU, after all, was the AAC's best free-throw shooting team at 77 percent.
 
Mike inbounded to Tyson Jolley, who was hacked by Collins. There were eight seconds left.
 
Jolley, a 70-percent free-throw shooter, had gone 6-for-8.
 
He missed the first.
 
"The Bulls have life!'' Lighthall said on the broadcast, warming to the improbable occasion. "You've got to secure the rebound here if he missed. That's the one you needed. Pressure bursts pipes. Jolley's got a lot of pressure on him on this one.''
 
Jolley missed again.
 
But the Bulls, with a lineup of guards and wings, were beaten to the boards. SMU's Mike soared into the lane. Secure the rebound, draw another foul, and it's probably over.
 
Mike tried for a stick-back bucket, but missed badly.
 
Brown grabbed the rebound, whirled and shoveled it to Rideau, who raced downcourt,
USF still trailing by two.
 
Let's turn it over to Lighthall:
 
J.B. gets it to Rideau. Six seconds to go. Q races it up. Four seconds to go. Two seconds. High-arching 3 … GOOOOOD!! OH MY GOD!! HE HIT IT!! OH MY GOD!! HE HIT IT!! LaQuincy Rideau brought rain from 3. A contested 3-point shot. It scraped the roof panels. That ball lost tiles on re-entry, it was so high. He swished it in. It's 61-60.
 
First, some inconvenient housekeeping. After two minutes of discussion, officials determined there were 0.6 seconds remaining. SMU inbounded one final time, but Brown intercepted the deep pass and it was over.
 
USF had its miracle.
 
And the best Senior Night ceremony anyone had ever seen could be completed. For the longest time, it was the kind of game that would send people fleeing for the exits. Now no one wanted to leave.
 
The USF pep band played on and on. Rideau and Maricevic, after being honored, signed dozens and dozens of autographs.
 
Rideau finished with 12 points, five rebounds, six assists, five steals and just one turnover — a perfect embodiment of what he had meant to the Bulls for two seasons. His 26-foot prayer — with Jolley's hand in his face — was his signature moment.
 
Maricevic had perhaps the best game of his USF career — 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting.
 
"I'm so happy for Q,'' Maricevic said afterward. "The shot went through and things kind of froze for a second. Then everyone was running around the court. I was like, 'OK, I'm running, too.' I will remember this night for the rest of my life.''
 
Jankovich, the stone-faced SMU coach, talked in somber tones during his postgame radio comments.
 
"We pulled a loss out of a win,'' Jankovich said. "All we had to do was get the ball inbounds and make a free throw. Then we missed two free throws at the end, which we had done all night (finishing 15-for-28 at the line).
 
"We didn't have to do that much. We deserved to win the game, but you do have to finish the game. That was an unbelievable shot, a miracle shot. … But with the overall way that game finished, I've never seen anything it.''
 
For Gregory, it was a bit of justice.
 
"They've got to make some mistakes and we've got to catch some breaks,'' Gregory said. "We had a season where we didn't catch as many breaks as we would've liked. Today, we did. Sometimes, when you work really hard and stick together, you catch some breaks.''
 
Gregory said the recruiting of Rideau, a transfer from Gardner-Webb, will remain a watershed moment in the rebuilding of USF basketball.
 
"We're at the point we're at right now because of Q's attitude,'' Gregory said. "I'm not going to take anything from anybody. I'm going to compete against everybody. I'm not taking a back seat. Sometimes, I'm not going to listen to you. I'm going to get it done my way.
 
"We're a family. Families fight. Families don't always get along. But families always have each other's back. I've got his. He's got mine. To end his career on a play like that, it doesn't get any better than that.''
 
Rideau remembers flying to Dallas for the AAC Tournament, then learning that the NBA season has been postponed after two players tested positive for COVID. It gave him a bad feeling. By the time USF arrived at the arena, Rideau saw glum faces all around.
He knew. It was over.
 
"I shed a little tear,'' Rideau said.
 
Rideau got his degree in criminology, but there was no graduation ceremony due to COVID. He watched his name announced online. Then he was off to Luxembourg — a country half the size of Delaware — for another season that was cut short by the virus. Rideau will spend the holidays with his family, hoping his season will resume in January. Maybe it will. Maybe it won't.
 
But one thing is certain.
 
"I had something happen to me that was incredible,'' Rideau said.  "I think about it all the time. No matter where I go, no matter what I do, it's going to last forever.''