![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mm1-tosses-up.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIt was just 15 hours after Connecticut\u2019s instant-classic NCAA Tournament win over Duke, and Hall of Famer Grant Hill had barely slept. He got just four hours.<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t depressed about his alma mater, Duke, losing in dramatic fashion, and did attribute some of it to age, as he is 53. Really, he was in awe from the shock of witnessing it courtside and replayed the game in his mind all night.<\/p>\n
So a simple question, \u201cHow are you doing?\u201d elicited Hill to respond, \u201cI\u2019m good. I\u2019m still in disbelief.\u201d<\/p>\n
He then let out his trademark laugh that is part of the presentation of CBS\/TNT Sports\u2019 top Men\u2019s NCAA Tournament broadcast team of Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery and Hill that, in just its third season together, is quickly conjuring up comparisons to all-time great college hoops TV trios such as Dick Enberg, Billy Packer and Al McGuire.<\/p>\n
\u201c72-70, Duke, 10 seconds to go.\u201d \u2014 Eagle on CBS<\/p>\n
The trio nailed the final call, running a three-man weave to perfection in Sunday\u2019s epic UConn 73-72 win over Duke that sent the Huskies to the Final Four. At the end of Sunday, it was the all-time Dukie, Hill, who stood out for what he said \u2014 and his history as a player that creates a link between Christian Laettner\u2019s buzzer-beater 34 years ago against Kentucky to send the Blue Devils to the Final Four and Braylon Mullins\u2019 sequel to \u201cThe Shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a moment,\u201d Hill said on the phone Monday morning. \u201cThat was incredible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure I have ever been part of as chaotic but thrilling end. \u2026 This may be the new Laettner moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat ball deflected! And stolen by Mullins! Karaban! Two seconds! Mullins tosses it up!\u201d \u2014 Eagle<\/p>\n
\n (Screenshot from the CBS broadcast)<\/p>\n
In 1992, with Verne Lundquist and Len Elmore on the call, Hill was famously allowed a free pocket on the far baseline by Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, who chose not to guard the in-bounds. Hill threw a perfect bomb to Laettner. Laettner dribbled once and nailed \u201cThe Shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lundquist said, \u201cThere is the pass to Laettner. Puts it up. Yes!!!!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, it was cool that I was there at both from a selfish standpoint,\u201d Hill said. \u201cThat Kentucky game was one thrilling play after another. Back and forth. That Kentucky team was certainly worthy of winning. Both teams were magnificent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was different because it was an epic closing, an epic shot, but also kind of an epic meltdown.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOhh!!!! It\u2019s good! With point-three. UConn goes in front!\u201d \u2014 Eagle![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mm2-ohh.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n (Screenshot from the CBS broadcast)<\/p>\n
\u201cUtterly impossible! The deflection \u2026 the reaction \u2026 then the major \u2026 onions!\u201d \u2014 Raftery<\/p>\n
Hill is a Hall of Famer and a successful businessman, meaning he doesn\u2019t have to be courtside to call college games. He is a partner in the Atlanta Hawks, the managing director of USA Basketball and a prominent Duke alum. But you don\u2019t hear any bias in his calls.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe freshman Braylon Mullins \u2026 Wow! \u2026 What a play! All Duke had to do was hold the ball there!\u201d \u2014 Hill<\/p>\n
The viral social media video featuring Hill and Raftery with a cameo from Eagle was a raw reaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you are just trying to process what happened,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n
Hill said he is animated like that throughout the whole game and has to be careful not to tap Raftery on the arm too hard. He wanted to let Eagle have the runway for what Hill said was a \u201cmagnificent\u201d call and then let Raftery \u201csprinkle his magic dust on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mm7-what-a-play.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n (Screenshot from the CBS broadcast)<\/p>\n
Eagle is the best basketball play-by-player today, while Raftery is an all-time analyst. Hill\u2019s personality fits: He\u2019s one of the greatest college players of all time and doesn\u2019t lead with his ego, but instead with his joy for the game. It allows him to slide in with finer points of the game, making it so it doesn\u2019t sound like they are fighting for the ball \u2014 a common issue in a three-person booth.<\/p>\n
Hill\u2019s point about Duke\u2019s Cayden Boozer, made in the moment, identified one of the biggest postgame themes in real time.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mm8-hold-ball.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n (Screenshot from the CBS broadcast)<\/p>\n
The difference between what happened Sunday and 34 years ago is that Hill thought Kentucky fans left knowing it was a classic, and that Duke just got the final word. That wasn\u2019t the same on Saturday, when the Blue Devils had a 19-point lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike I said, I thought it was an epic finish, an epic moment and also an epic meltdown,\u201d Hill said. \u201cI don\u2019t think you can say that Kentucky melted. It was brilliant play after brilliant play. This was a team showing heart, showing grit, showing championship culture and just competing to the very end and maybe better, similar, who knows? I\u2019ll let the pundits and history judge, but I think we will be talking about that play for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely!\u201d \u2014 Raftery<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still stunned,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n
While his analysis stood up, as he said what he felt about how Duke handled the game and that he was thrilled to be courtside, 34 years ago was still a little more fun for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo question,\u201d Hill said with a chuckle. \u201cThey both were incredible. I really do believe \u2014 I won\u2019t say it replaces the Laettner shot, but we\u2019ll be talking about this. There will be documentaries and features on this and anniversaries of this. Most importantly, it helps if UConn goes on to win the championship. Regardless, it is one of the great moments in the history of the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was just 15 hours after Connecticut\u2019s instant-classic NCAA Tournament win over Duke, and Hall of Famer Grant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[2662,8922,7091,2663,99,1794],"class_list":["post-554817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-college-sports","tag-connecticut-huskies","tag-duke-blue-devils","tag-mens-college-basketball","tag-sports","tag-sports-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}