A year later, Hayward looks back on The Shot

The last time eyes of a hoops-high nation were glued to him, Gordon Hayward( was flying through the air of an Indianapolis football stadium. Tiny Butler University had one last crack at toppling mighty Duke, and all hope rested with a baby-faced bomber.

The ball was cradled in his right hand, comforted by his left, and as Hayward heaved, history hinged.

Be answered, and a halfcourt prayer arguably elevates a terrific 2010 NCAA national-championship contest into basketball's greatest game ever. But miss the mark, like it did, and the bid that nearly shocked humanity is a mere bug in the ear of the kid who some mistakenly suspect would be haunted by it.

One year later, overwhelming odds again inexplicably overcome, Butler is back in the Final Four. Hayward is not, having taken his class act and swingman's game to the Utah Jazz as a lottery pick in last June's NBA draft. And somewhere between the two is that last-second chuck, one that might just have dropped had its taker let up just a pinch on his push and leaned left a hair.

Yet ask him about the shot – The Shot – and Hayward almost incredulously turns to another.

"That's not the shot that gets me,'' he said. "It's the one before – that baseline fadeway.''

From about 15 feet out with four seconds remaining, Hayward let go an off-balance jumper from the right side he felt should have fallen.

"I was just thinking to myself, man, if that shot went in – I mean, how many years down the road would you still see that shot going in the basket?'' Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. "It didn't go in. But if it would have went in, what a story it would have been for that school.''

"I've seen it just because they do show it a lot, and people always talk about it," Hayward said of his final field-goal attempt as a collegian. "It is tough to look at, but, at the same time, it's exciting for them [the Bulldogs] this year.''

"It doesn't drive me crazy. I think maybe after the game, the first couple nights were tough to sleep,'' Hayward said. "But other than that I've been looking forward.

"I mean, it's still with me. I think it will be with me a long time. But I think it's in the back of my mind, because I don't think about it anymore.''