"Being There" Revisits Laettner's Legendary Shot

Lundquist, Roberts, Wojciechowski relive Duke-Kentucky thriller

May 8, 2007

In his new book "Being There: 100 Sports Pros Talk About the Best Sporting Events They Ever Witnessed Firsthand", CSTV.com Senior Editor Eric Mirlis relives some of the great moments in sports history with the people that were there to see, and in many cases, cover them. In this excerpt, three of the book's participants recall one of the most famous shots in NCAA Tournament history - Christian Laettner's buzzer beater, giving Duke a win over Kentucky and a spot in the 1992 Final Four.

1992 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, East Regional Finals, Kentucky vs. Duke, The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 28, 1992

Verne Lundquist:

When I saw Grant Hill come out of the timeout with 2.1 seconds to play, I thought back to when he was born. His father, Calvin, was playing for the Cowboys, and I was doing their radio broadcasts in 1972. He was born on a Friday night, and Calvin called me to give me the news. So as they broke out of their huddle, I couldn't help but think about how neat that was but was also concentrating more on him getting ready to throw the ball in than on Christian Laettner at the other end of the floor.

My partner that day was Len Elmore, and we began to talk about how Rick Pitino had decided not to contest the inbounds pass, putting all five players at the defensive end, giving Hill an unimpeded pass, albeit one that had to travel around 70 feet. That paid huge dividends for Duke, because the pass was just about perfect, and Laettner caught it, turned, and made the shot. You try to lay out in moments like this, and I did for thirty or forty seconds while trying to come up with the appropriate thing to say. I did allude at that point to the fact that his father played football and he had thrown a perfect football pass to Laettner. We knew throughout the game that we were watching something special and that it was going to go down to the wire. But when you take something special, then factor in the programs that are playing in Duke and Kentucky, plus that it is for a spot in the Final Four, the only thing that would have elevated the status of the game as it is now remembered would have been if it was for a national championship.

When the game was over, we took off our headsets, but neither one of us said a word for a good fifteen seconds. We just watched the scene play out in front of us. Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe came over to us and looked at Len and said, "Until tonight, I thought Maryland-North Carolina State in 1974 was the greatest basketball game I had ever seen. I thought this one was better; what do you think?" Len had played for Maryland in that game, and to his credit, he didn't reply flippantly. He thought about it and said, "You know what? The stakes were higher here. This was a better game." That conversation made me sit back and realize just how special this game was.

After the game, I'll always remember Coach Krzyzewski making a beeline for legendary Kentucky announcer Cawood Ledford, who had announced that he was retiring at the end of the Wildcats' season. I thought that was so classy, especially considering the circumstances. A few minutes later, we were leaving, and the Duke players were still celebrating on the floor. I saw Coach and went over to congratulate him, and he said to me, "I knew if we could get it in the son of a bitch's hands, he'd score."

Jimmy Roberts:

Believe it or not, Christian Laettner's shot isn't what I remember most. For me, it was the shot that was next to last, when Sean Woods of Kentucky hit a runner across the lane. For me, it is all about the story, and for Kentucky to make it to the Final Four would have been impossible to imagine. They were like a landlocked country with a navy. They were limping along with a bunch of players who were only there because it was Kentucky. They were on probation, people had left the program, and there seemed to be no hope. But if there was ever an example of why Rick Pitino was and still is a great coach, this was the season. He took those kids--John Pelphrey, Richie Farmer, Sean Woods; added a great recruit in Jamal Mashburn; and turned them into as unlikely a contender team as there ever has been. So when Woods hit the shot while running across the lane, I remember thinking to myself, "Kentucky is going to the Final Four. You couldn't have made this up."

I remember being disappointed when Duke ended up winning, only because I root for good stories, and these guys were so worthy of being cheered for, they stayed when everybody else left and abandoned ship. Of course, Grant Hill is as worthy an athlete to root for as there ever has been, in my estimation, and is all that is good about sports. I remember going outside after the event was over and doing my stand-up in front of the Rocky statue that's in front of the Spectrum and saying, "Rocky almost won this time but didn't."

Gene Wojciechowski :

If there is a heaven filled with great games, this is the one you first see as you enter the pearly gates. My goose bumps get goose bumps thinking about this game. It had the holy trinity (I'm sort of on a religious kick here, aren't I?) of game-day components: It was an NCAA Tournament game; winner goes to the Final Four. It had hoops pedigree (mighty Kentucky, with Rick Pitino rebuilding the NCAA-scarred Wildcats against mighty Duke). It had the kind of drama, tension, and excellence you see once every epoch. It remains my absolute, drop-dead favorite.

Afterward, because I was working for the LA Times and had later deadlines than most everyone else, I was one of maybe a dozen reporters who were there when the Kentucky locker room opened. Pitino looked as if he had just attended a funeral. You could hear a heart drop. John Pelphrey, who was one of the players "guarding" Laettner when he hit the game-winner, came from the bathroom/shower area to meet with the reporters. He started to speak and then, overcome with emotion, returned to the bathroom and started pounding the cinderblock wall. "I can't. . . . I can't," he kept repeating. What do you do in those circumstances? I just stared at my shoes, amazed by the sheer emotion of it all.

I kept in touch with Pelphrey for several years after that game, even talked to him in Spain when he played over there, and he still had difficulty discussing that loss. But he has a special place in my Interview Hall of Fame because of what he did that night at the Spectrum. He didn't duck the press. He came out, tried to explain the unexplainable, and then couldn't go on.

As it turned out, I almost wasn't able to file my story. The union knuckleheads had broken down the press tables at courtside and disconnected the phone lines by the time I had finished writing. As deadline ticked closer, I had to beg a security guard to open up the Flyers offices so I could use one of their phone lines. I made it with maybe a minute or two to spare.

Every so often I see the Hill-to-Laettner highlight and still can't believe it. I even asked someone from the Duke basketball office to send me a copy of the game, which I watch every year or so. I just love the purity of that game, the quality of play, the moments.

"Being There" is available on Amazon.com and at bookstores.