A tradition unlike any other — me giving a player my tie!
Villanova point guard Ryan Arcidiacono won a national championship in his final game at the university he grew up loving — and got Jim Nantz’s tie as a reward.
“He said at the end of the tournament I always go to the winning team and I pick a senior who has inspired him throughout the tournament,” said Arcidiacono in his postgame press conference with the tie around his neck.
“He said it was me. I was in awe. I didn’t know what to say.”
Unlike The Masters, few knew about this tradition.
Arcidiacono was a fitting recipient.
He played in his school-record 144th game Monday night, and recorded the game-winning assist on Kris Jenkins’ buzzer-beating 3-pointer, leading the Wildcats to their second-ever championship four years after joining a team that had won 13 games the season before his freshman year.
“We knew what we were going to do and we just executed,” he said.
