From staff and wire reports
Pam Reynolds realized very early on in her son’s life that he had the potential to be something special.
Growing up in Athens, Pam’s son Scottie always dreamed of the day he would be able to play college basketball with hopes of some day making it to the Final Four. Little did the Villanova guard know that his team’s destiny would be in his hands on March 28.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Scottie nailed a shot under the goal, giving Villanova the 78-76 win over top-seeded Pittsburgh.
As of Thursday, Scottie’s mom Pam still wasn’t able to put into words what happened that night.
“It was so exciting,” Pam said. “We couldn’t believe we saw what we did. After it happened, Scottie found where we were sitting and blew us a kiss in the middle of it all. He has always dreamed of getting to the Final Four. It was huge for him.”
Since that night, Scottie hasn’t been able to escape “The Shot.”
Scottie’s quick shopping trip in the days before the Final Four turned into an impromptu autograph signing. He needed five seconds to send Villanova to Detroit, a fraction of the time needed to escape a department store clogged with Wildcats fans.
“It took me 15 minutes to get out of there,” Scottie said Thursday. “I was at the cash register signing autographs, and it was unbelievable that the Villanova community had so much support behind us.”
Scottie better get used to the attention and adulation. When his last-second basket gave the Wildcats a victory in the regional final, he ignited the kind of party Villanova hasn’t seen since 1985. The bucket sparked question after question about how the highlight-reel play might have already changed life for the 6-foot-2 point guard.
If Scottie has changed, his teammates haven’t noticed.
“Him being so humble, it’s just so great for us,” forward Shane Clark said.
The Wildcats (30-7) don’t necessarily need a last-shot thriller from Scottie when they play North Carolina in a national semifinal Saturday. But if that’s what it takes, Scottie is ready to deliver again.
“I’ve always had the confidence that I would make the right play whether it was a shot for me or for the team,” he said.
Hard to believe now watching a smiling Reynolds speak so openly about how much he’s enjoyed the tournament run that there was a time he wasn’t certain he was cut out for Villanova.
Gone are the days when Reynolds felt detached on his lonely walks around Villanova’s campus. When his commitment to Oklahoma collapsed shortly before his freshman season, he became a last-minute addition to coach Jay Wright’s program.
When Sampson abruptly left for Indiana, Reynolds was stunned and betrayed.
“I had everything set, and it took a turn,” Reynolds said. “There were so many people around me, but after that happened it was just my family, my friends. The ones who stayed true to me. That’s why I didn’t go far the second time. I wanted to stay close to home.”
He found his home with the Wildcats, though it took some time to adjust.
After Sooners coach Jeff Capel granted Reynolds a release, Wright called Sampson for a scouting report. The former OU coach told him not to bother with any questions.
“When I first saw him, the thing that jumped out at me was ’winner.’ He has great intangibles,” said Sampson, an assistant for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Reynolds always felt at home on the court, scoring a team freshman record 40 points against Connecticut and was named Big East rookie of the year. Still, he flirted with the idea of declaring for the NBA draft after his freshman season.
“He was thinking, ’This is tough for me here, I’m struggling on and off the court, and I know I have to stay and stick this out,”’ Wright said. “He’d get emotional sometimes.”
It took Reynolds halfway through his sophomore year to really feel like he wanted to stay at the suburban Philadelphia school.
Reynolds’ decision to stay has been a boon for Wright and the Wildcats.
He matched his career high with another 40-point game against Seton Hall this year and averaged 16.9 points in Big East games. Always a streaky shooter, Reynolds is only shooting 35 percent (15-for-42) from the floor with 50 points in four NCAA tournament games. But when the Wildcats needed someone to take the shot to save their season, Wright said there was no other player he wanted with the ball in his hands.
Reggie Redding made the inbounds pass that eventually got the ball to Reynolds, and never had a doubt he would finish off Pitt.
“Scottie had a full head of steam,” Redding said. “Scottie is one of the fastest players I’ve played with, so I knew that he was going to go the length of the court and either get fouled or get to the rim.”
Asked if he ever made a basket so important at any level, Reynolds simply shrugged and said, “I’ve had a lot of misses.”
Not this time.
“That shot’s going to be remembered around here for a long time,” Wright said.
Wright hasn’t forgotten how lucky he was to land Reynolds.
When Villanova played at Marquette this year, they practiced at the Bucks’ practice facility and Wright left a handwritten note on Sampson’s desk.
“He put, ’P.S. By the way, thanks for Scottie,”’ Sampson said.
