From unemployed to unbelievable: How UConn’s Mike Nardi witnessed 2 iconic March Madness moments
By ADAM ZAGORIA
INDIANAPOLIS — Immediately after Braylon Mullins hit a 35-foot buzzer-beater to lift UConn over Duke in the East Regional final last Sunday night in Washington, D.C., UConn assistant coach Mike Nardi received a text from former Villanova standout Kris Jenkins.
“I can’t believe you’ve been a part of both shots,” Jenkins texted.
Nardi replied: “When you’re around great players and great teams, those guys are the ones that make things happen.”
When Jenkins famously hit the game-winning 3-pointer to lift Villanova over North Carolina in the 2016 NCAA championship game in Houston, Nardi was on the Villanova bench as an assistant to Jay Wright. It remains one of the most iconic shots in the history of the tournament.
And when Mullins’s shot joined the pantheon of iconic March Madness moments, Nardi was on the UConn bench celebrating with head coach Dan Hurley and the rest of the Huskies.
“We do our best to put these guys in positions, but when it comes down to it, they gotta make the plays. They got to make the shots,” the 41-year-old Nardi, a Linden, N.J. native and former St. Patrick High School star, said during an exclusive interview in the UConn locker room at Lucas Oil Stadium where the Huskies will play Illinois in the Final Four on Saturday.
‘I WAS UNEMPLOYED’
Nardi is now in position to win his third NCAA championship ring as an assistant coach, but it might never have happened if it weren’t for his fellow Jersey Boy Hurley.
When Villanova fired Kyle Neptune last spring, Nardi stayed on to coach the team in the College Basketball Crown, winning two games before the Wildcats lost to Central Florida in the semifinals.
But after Kevin Willard was hired to replace Neptune, he did not keep Nardi on the staff.
“It’s a tough business,” Nardi said. “You know I was unemployed, basically. So you get let go and then you get an opportunity like this to be a part of such a tradition.”
Hurley, the Jersey City native and former Seton Hall guard, knew Nardi well from their Jersey backgrounds.
“It was tough because he beat me twice in high school, and especially the day that my son Andrew was born,” Hurley cracked of Nardi, referring to his time coaching at St. Benedict’s Prep. “But I know his obsession with basketball. I know if he could work for Jay, he certainly could work for me because me and Jay have more similarities in terms of being demanding to work for than most people think because Jay is so composed and handsome.”
Wright was certainly composed after Ryan Arcidiacono fed Jenkins for the game-winning three in the championship game.
"A #NationalChampionship… BUZZER-BEATER!" 
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 4, 2024
On this day in 2016, Kris Jenkins (@Smoove2you_) hit an ICONIC shot at the buzzer to win @NovaMBB the #NationalChampionship  #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/hPDzfT6SZo
Hurley, meantime, responded to Mullins’s shot by nuzzling his head against that of referee Roger Ayers, a move that was criticized on social media for being a head butt.
‘THAT MOMENT IS CEMENTED IN HISTORY, TOO’
The shots, like the coaches involved, were different, of course.
Jenkins’s shot capped a nip-and-tuck affair against North Carolina in the championship game and was a play he had worked on in practice.
Mullins’s now-iconic shot came after Silas Demary Jr. stole the ball from Duke’s Cayden Boozer, and Alex Karaban alertly fed the ball to Mulllins for a shot that capped a 19-point comeback in the Elite Eight.
“It was a tough situation because if we didn’t get a steal, we had to foul, and now you’re down two and now they’re going to the free throw line and they got to make both to put the game away,” Nardi said.
Mullins actually thought in the moment that his shot tied the game, and Bob Hurley Sr. said many UConn fans around him thought the same.
Braylon Mullins on the game winner pic.twitter.com/bGhaW0MKnR
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 29, 2026
Like Jenkins, Mullins, a Greenfield, Ind. native who said he got 12-15 tickets for the Final Four for family and friends, is now a forever part of March Madness lore and will be shown during “One Shining Moment” after Monday night’s championship game.
“Yeah, just now looking back at it, it’s insane, just knowing that shot’s gonna be played every March Madness, that I’m a part of that moment,” Mullins said in the UConn locker room.
Mullins said he’s seen clips of Jenkins’s shot but didn’t watch it live.
“That moment is cemented in history, too,” he said.
Mullins didn’t realize Nardi’s connection until it was brought up to him.
“I actually did not know that,” Mullins said with a smile.
‘I’VE NEVER BEEN COMPENSATED’
The shots mean different things for Jenkins and Mullins, too.
Because Jenkins played in the pre-NIL era, he has not received any compensation for his iconic shot, He filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and six major conferences, including the Big East, according to The Athletic, which reported that Jenkins opted out of the House settlement which paved the way for the modern NIL era which began in 2021.
Per The Athletic: “Jenkins argues that the NCAA and Villanova both benefited financially from the shot, whether through commercials, university enrollment or a subsequent $22.6 million gift Villanova received to renovate the Finneran Pavilion basketball arena and facility.”
“I’m honored to a certain degree, but I’m also in the process of fighting for what’s mine,” Jenkins told The Athletic. “I’ve never been compensated in any way for making that shot. It seems like everybody has benefited from the shot except for the guy who made it.”
‘THEY’RE GREAT DUDES’
Mullins, like Cayden and Cameron Boozer and other college athletes, is free to do commercials and profit off his Name, Image and Likeness….and his now iconic shot. He’s already done a commercial for Turbo Tax.
“I know the first day it was countless [times he saw the shot replayed],” Mullins said. “It was like every scroll on the feed it was there.”
Luke Meredith, Mullins’s high school coach, said he deserves “hero status,” which in today’s NIL world translates into money and commercials.
“I used to call him BMF,” Meredith told TMZ Sports. “Bad MOFO.”
“He just developed that nickname — be a bad MOFO ’cause that’s who you’ve always been, and that’s who you’re gonna be this weekend, too.”
As for Nardi, he may be good luck.
After all, he’s already got two NCAA titles as a coach and remains in position for a third thanks to Mullins.
He’s just happy to be along for the ride.
“It was more about the moment for Bray,” Nardi said. “People have brought it up, but it’s not about me. It’s just an unbelievable experience having been there for Kris’s and Braylon’s and, honestly, just grateful and thankful for those guys as people because they’re great dudes.”
Photo: Via UConn Athletics
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