Florida sophomore center Joakim Noah was reeling a bit in the moments before the 2006 National Championship Game between the Gators and UCLA.
“I couldn't even feel my legs,” Noah explained to Complex, ahead of the 20th anniversary of Florida’s first National Championship in men’s basketball. “I was, like, floating. I swear. That's what it felt like.”
Two nights earlier, Florida ended 11th seeded George Mason’s Cinderella run 73-58. But the National Championship Game against 11-time National Champion UCLA was a step up in weight class. “This is that big stage shit,” Noah tells Complex, “like the first time playing in front of millions of people, and it's for all the fucking marbles, you know?”
Noah eventually took a deep breath, settled down, and played one of the most efficient games of his life, taking home Most Outstanding Player honors, following Florida’s 73-57 win.
On Monday night, UConn and Michigan will clash in the RCA Dome in Indianopolis, site of Noah’s 2006 triumph. History will be at stake. UConn seeks their third championship in four years and seventh overall, while Michigan aims to capture their first championship since 1989, which was their sole title in men’s basketball. For many of the players on the court, it will be a new experience. So, we spoke to Noah, and three other veterans of title games to find out, What’s It Like to Play in the National Championship Game?
Grant Hill (1994, Duke lost to Arkansas 76-72)
“We won the game on Saturday and the next day is media. You have a short turnaround. You don't have time to process it. I had been there before [in 1991 and 1992]. We knew, Ok, you win that game and have to come back from that high. We didn’t go practice. We went to an outdoor park, like a basketball court. We talked and had a little bit of a walkthrough. It was crazy. The weather was nice so I think coach just wanted us to go outside and do something different. We were at a playground, literally. Nobody was there and we were walking through some things. Then we went into a film session in Coach K’s suite, which was much bigger than our suits, in the Embassy Suites.
So, we’re watching film on Arkansas and I'm like, Wow. I didn’t necessarily follow [them] a whole lot but I was aware. The depth. The shooting. They had bigs who could shoot. They had Corliss Williamson who was a load inside. They just harassed you for 40 minutes with pressure. I was thinking, I got to just handle their pressure. I was the primary ballhandler. Jeff Capel and Chris Collins didn’t handle the ball much. We played at Iowa early in the year and they pressed you the whole game. It was like, We just got to get the ball into the front court and limit our turnovers. That’s what I was thinking as the point guard. I had to make sure I stayed composed. We had to get a good shot every time because a good shot will help us set up our defense.
I was thinking, How the hell are we going to guard these guys? I guarded Dwight Stewart who was a big guy and could shoot. But I was also going to help Cherokee [Parks] with Corliss Williamson. That year, I was like a center fielder or a free safety. A lot of times they put me on the worst player or someone who wasn't great on offense and I would zone up and muck things up and play that role. Now I had to guard this great shooter while still having that role. I was like, Oh man, I don't know how we’re going to do this.
He’s going to get mad at me for this but I remember Coach K saying. ‘We’re gonna put Chris Collins on Scotty Thurman.’ I was like, ‘What?’ Chris wasn’t our strongest defender.
But like the Vegas game my freshman year, I felt like we had to stay close, control the tempo and control the game. We got to make it our game and not their game. I think for the most part we did. Once the game started it’s like, let’s compete and play and we did. We had an opportunity in the last few minutes but they hit a big shot and we didn’t.”
Carmelo Anthony (2003, Syracuse d. Kansas 81-78)
“I just remember being in so much pain that Sunday because I had hurt my back in the semifinal game. I was trying to do everything I could to prepare for Monday night. I understood the pressure. I understood the moment. I understood that it was Syracuse playing in [the Louisiana Superdome]. [Editor’s Note: Syracuse lost the 1987 title game to Indiana 74-73 in the Superdome.] So, the video from that game was playing in my head all day and all night as I’m trying to get my back right. It was a lot of pressure on that Sunday. I couldn't enjoy the Final Four.
I couldn’t sleep, so finally I just got up out of the room, left the hotel, and walked on Bourbon Street. I think that moment is when I really felt what it was like to be a part of a weekend like that in a moment. I did [get recognized] a little bit.
I just remember our preparation and our confidence going into that game. We felt like we'd done everything up until that point. So, that game, we were relying on the work that we put in and the progress that we've made throughout the course of the season.”
Joakim Noah (2006, Florida d. UCLA 73-57)
“We were hungry. I remember, I think it was the Sweet 16 against Georgetown. And we won by [four] but it could have went either way. They had a wide open 3 to win the game. I think that when you're that close to losing, you really understand what this tournament is all about, like, you have to have a level of, um... confidence, but also like a fear. You have to really dig into every single play, every single moment counts because this isn't a series. Anything can happen in one game — that's why the Cinderella story is so intriguing in college basketball as well. When it’s one game, the best team doesn't always win.
I remember the intensity. Starting in that game, and your name being called, and you having to shake hands with the opponent, I couldn't even feel my legs. I was, like, floating. I swear. That's what it felt like. This is that big stage shit, like the first time playing in front of millions of people. And it's for all the fucking marbles, you know? Those are feelings that are hard to describe, but, you know, they're feelings that you never forget. I know that I will never feel those kinds of feelings ever again.
[Ed’s note: Noah notched 16 points (on 7-of-9 shooting), 9 rebounds, and 6 blocks and was named Most Outstanding Player.] [UCLA] couldn't fuck with me. I was nice. They couldn't fuck with me, man. They know it. I was too much. I was too nice.
Those were some of the most special moments of my life, seeing your family's faces after you win a MVP or a championship. It’s not something that I'll ever forget, you know, just taking the trophy and bringing it back to school, first one in school history, and you're, 19 years old, 20 years old, just living your best life before social media. We loved playing with each other so much that some of us had an opportunity to go to the league. But we came back to school. And there were no NIL deals. There was none of that. So it was really for the love of the game and the chemistry that we had as teammates. Seeing those guys, it's always an honor because we know that they were the most special times of our lives.”
Josh Hart (2016, Villanova d. North Carolina 77-74)
“The Oklahoma game [in the National Semifinals] was huge for us in terms of execution. We were real locked in, focused, and were ready for the task at hand. Coach [Jay] Wright is an amazing leader, who made sure we were all present and weren’t thinking about anything else. It was just, How can we beat North Carolina? That was the only thought any of us had going into Monday night.
We were losing at halftime but I had a block right before the end of the half, which gave us a little bit of momentum coming out for the second half. I feel like we were really locked in. We were executing. And we built a lead but then we had a couple of turnovers. We were up 10 with like three minutes left and thought everything was all good. North Carolina kept punching back and punching back until Marcus Paige made that crazy shot.
My two clutch free throws [with 13 seconds remaining] got overlooked because of Marcus Paige’s shot. In those situations, the biggest free throw is the first one. For me, it was just, OK, I’ve shot thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of free throws in my lifetime. It was really just doing my routine and muscle memory. I knocked the first one down and I knew if I did that, the second one would be good.
With 4.7 seconds left, we’re thinking, Oh hell, we just gave up this huge lead and we’re about to go into overtime. But during that timeout we called this play called “Nova,” which we go through literally every day in practice for probably every year that I was there. Up to that point, not once did we ever hit the trail man. But the one time we did was in the biggest moment and we won.”
