With UNC just two wins away from avenging last year’s loss in the NCAA Championship game, former point guard Marcus Paige took to the Players Tribune on Friday to reminisce on what could have been, as well as offer up some advice for this year’s team.

Tar Heel fans everywhere will never forget the scene. With 4.7 seconds left on the clock, Paige hit an incredible double-clutch three-pointer that tied the game against Villanova and capped a 10-point UNC rally.

If only for a brief moment, the championship seemed like it was destined to arrive in Chapel Hill after an overtime period that was all but guaranteed.

Then, of course, Villanova forward Kris Jenkins won the game at the buzzer and simultaneously broke the hearts of an entire fan base–one which had just experienced the highest of highs watching Paige go where he went and do what he did just seconds before.

“After I made the shot to tie it up, I was 99% sure we were going to win — we had rallied from down 10, and you know Villanova wasn’t trying to see us in OT,” Paige wrote in his essay. “We were so close to having a seat at the table with other Tar Heel champions — every day I think about how it could have been.”

While a shot like that would hurt on any occasion, the pure magnitude of the Final Four brings the pain to a whole new level–as if that isn’t obvious enough already.

On the other hand, there were plenty of special moments during the event that even caught Paige a bit off-guard.

“Nothing prepares you for how much UNC shows out at the Final Four,” he wrote. “That’s when you realize that you’re not just playing for yourself — you’re playing for this fraternity of former players and coaches that’s unlike any other in the country.”

To read the full article, click here.

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