It wasn’t Jordan Poole’s three-pointer to win it against Houston, but nobody will forget C.J. Baird’s triple against Texas A&M.
Baird won’t, certainly. Neither will head coach John Beilein, who responded, ‘he may’ with a grin when asked if Baird would start the Elite Eight game against Florida State.
“Those are things I will remember more than some of the plays you will remember,” Beilein said. “He was a manager to start when Fred Wright-Jones decided he was going to concentrate on academics. He was a manager who was also a brilliant student, probably the highest SAT of anybody I’ve ever coached.
“He came out making buckets from the very beginning. He gives us buckets in practice. But for him to sit there for two hours and come in with a Tim Hardaway crossover and just rise up and shoot it, put his fingers in the air like this on the way back, just a great moment for everyone.”
Beilein glanced at the bench after the shot.
“They were going crazy. That’s a sign of a good team,” Beilein said.
Baird never envisioned getting into a game of this magnitude, but he made the most of his opportunity.
“I love shooting,” he said. “I got the ball, and I love shooting. I’ll shoot threes all the time in practice in case I ever go into a game like that, so I’m ready.
“All week, which was different … I had to play like a big man in the post as a four and I couldn’t shoot threes, so I wasn’t used to shooting in that gym. I’m just so blessed it went in. It was crazy.”
Baird said he wasn’t going to insist he start Saturday, either.
“Ha! No,” he said. “I’m just happy we’re in the Elite Eight. What an amazing experience being part of the eight best teams in the country. It’s a tough road ahead, but I think we’re all really excited at the challenge.”
Regardless what comes next, he’ll always have his one shining moment.
“I celebrated. I went crazy,” he said. “My whole body went numb when I shot it.
“Watching it, I started running back, put two threes up [with my fingers]. My gosh … best feeling ever. It’s every kid’s dream to watch the tournament as a kid growing up as a basketball player, and you really always dream of going in there and hitting a shot like that. It’s really cool.”
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