‘One Shining Moment’ is the song synonymous with college basketball success. It’s a song every hoops-playing kid with a dream hopes to one day hear as confetti falls from the sky and a trophy is slotted into their hands. The last 31 champions have heard the ballad, which caps off the NCAA tournament’s greatest moments and crowns the winner.
I asked Michigan State basketball players for the lyrics to ‘One Shining Moment.’ It went worse than you think.
One player hadn’t heard the song until a few weeks ago. Several others struggled to sing any lyrics past “the ball is tipped.” This was truly a disaster.
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The Michigan State Spartans, just having beaten the Duke Blue Devils and Zion Williamson, were one step closer to hearing this song play after a 68-67 nail-biting win.
In the locker room, the Spartans were bouncing off the walls less than an hour after the biggest win of their lives. Center Nick Ward was swiping away notifications on his phone as reporters asked questions (he had 91 unread texts at the moment), players were FaceTiming with their family, and some, on their way to the showers, even broke out in song.
“The ball is tipped,” the first player sang.
Another player, not visible behind a group of media, followed with “The ball is tipped.”
Some time after, another shout is heard, this time singing, “One shining moment.” And none of the words after.
As it turns out, few Spartans know any more than two lines to the most famous song in the sport they play. And they aren’t even consecutive lines.
“I just found out that ‘One Shining Moment’ was a song this year,” Aaron Henry, a breakout 19-year-old freshman, admitted to SB Nation. “No for real, I did.”
Henry said he’s watched the National Championship games before, but he didn’t remember the song. He learned of its existence before this year’s tournament started when his teammates played it once for inspiration.
“I guess I will [learn the song] this year.”
Surely Henry must be alone here. The rest of the Spartans were singing just one line because they didn’t want to get too far ahead of themselves right?
Jack Hoiberg is a redshirt freshman for Michigan State, and the son of Fred, the former NBA coach who also spent five years as head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones. In March, Fred was hired to coach the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Basketball is in his blood!
“The ball is tipped,” the younger Hoiberg speak-sung to SB Nation.
[Then there was 12 seconds of silence.]
“I’m mostly focused on the graphics while watching ‘One Shining Moment’,” he said.
Surely Ward, a 21-year-old junior, will save them.
“I don’t know the words either,” he said.
Yikes.
Freshman guard Foster Foyer was flabbergasted to learn his teammate, Henry, so recently learned of One Shining Moment’s existence. Foster shouted Henry’s name to lure him back into the conversation, so he could make sure I was telling the truth.
No! I just found out,” Henry said. “He already got on me about it,” he said, pointing in my direction.
So surely, Foster, who called out Henry, must know the words after “the ball is tipped.”
“Absolutely not,” Foster told SB Nation. Reaching his hand down to grab his phone, he said, “You want me to look it up?”
Of the five MSU players SB Nation spoke to, Brock Washington, a redshirt freshman, is the only one to know the lyrics to college basketball’s most famous song. He confidently busted out his vocals, only having to stop and question a line or two.
“They’re gonna know it real soon once we win it,” Washington said of his teammates.
The Michigan State Spartans are off to the Final Four, but they have homework first. Beating Zion Williamson was a good starting point, but their most difficult task lies ahead.
Below is video of the 2018 “One Shining Moment” video:
And here are the lyrics:
The ball is tipped
and there you are
you’re running for your life
you’re a shooting star
And all the years
no one knows
just how hard you worked
but now it shows...
(in) One Shining Moment, it’s all on the line
One Shining Moment, there frozen in time
But time is short
and the road is long
in the blinking of an eye
ah that moment’s gone
And when it’s done
win or lose
you always did your best
cuz inside you knew...
(that) One Shining Moment, you reached deep inside
One Shining Moment, you knew you were alive
Feel the beat of your heart
feel the wind in your face
it’s more than a contest
it’s more than a race...
And when it’s done
win or lose
you always did your best
cuz inside you knew...
that) One Shining Moment, you reached for the sky
One Shining Moment, you knew
One Shining Moment, you were willing to try
One Shining Moment, you knew
One Shining Moment...
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