by Jeff Goodman

Hoops Hysteria

• Final NCAA tournament bracket
• Bracket Challenge: Check your picks

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Championship — Detroit, Ford Field

• North Carolina 89, Michigan State 72



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FOXSports.com analysis

• Rosenberg: Can't doubt Ol' Roy
• Goodman: UNC's cupboard not bare
• Whatifsports.com: Decade's best teams
• Goodman: Hansbrough's finishing touch
• Kriegel: Tar Heels live up to hype
• Goodman: No excuses for Spartans
• Herwitt: Five keys to UNC's title win
• Chat about North Carolina's title win
• Complete college hoops coverage

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Video

• Lawson, Ellington talk about draft
• Postgame: Tar Heels talk title
• Goodman: How UNC became champ

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Photos

• NCAA championship | Final Four

Just four days after being told by Cardinals coach Rick Pitino that it would be best for him to leave the program, Sosa's trademark smile finally reappeared following a last-second 3-pointer that gave the Cardinals a 74-71 victory against rival Kentucky.

"If that shot was for anyone in the world, it was for him," teammate Terrence Williams said.

Sosa came in with all the hype of a typical New York City point guard and lived up to expectations as a freshman, starting all but two games and going for 31 points in the Cardinals' second-round NCAA tournament game against Texas A&M.

"I was Mr. Big Shot on campus," Sosa said. "Everyone knew who I was."

Then Sosa got a major-league reality check when he struggled through most of last season. His numbers dipped and so did his confidence.

Sosa played scared for much of last season and the early part of his junior campaign this year. The swagger he had back in the Rice High days was non-existent.

"I was afraid to mess up," he said. "I was second-guessing myself all the time."

"I haven't had my swagger in a year and a half," Sosa added. "It's amazing how different I play with confidence and without it."

Sosa estimates there were 25 or so sit-downs with Pitino.

There were another handful already this season, but none prepared him for what he heard on New Year's Day.

"I told him, 'If I were you, I'd transfer out," Pitino said. "I'll help you find a few schools that don't play any defense.'"

"He said it with no emotion," Sosa said. "He told me that there was nothing more I can do. That the fans were down on me, the coaches were down on me and I was down on myself."

Then Pitino added to the humiliation when he told the entire team about their conversation.

"I was very embarrassed," Sosa admitted. "Guys were coming back to me and couldn't believe he said that to me."

Sosa's pride, however, wouldn't allow him to go elsewhere. He talked to his older brother, Eric, who not only told him to stick it out, but that he'd have to change.

"I wasn't sure if he was doing it to motivate me or if he meant it," Sosa said. "Whatever the case, it got to me."

"This is where I want to be," Sosa added. "If there's something Coach P doesn't like about me and my game, I've got to change it."

Defense was the top priority.

After deciding to stay at Louisville, Sosa found himself paired with the starters in practice and it led to a starting assignment in the game of the year to date.

Against the despised Kentucky Wildcats.

"I wasn't sure if he was serious or playing around," Sosa said.

Pitino has become a psychiatrist in the last couple of years after having to deal with enigmatic, over-hyped big man Derrick Caracter. His attempts at trying to straighten Caracter came up short, but Sosa responded.

Rick Pitino told Louisville point guard Edgar Sosa earlier in the week that he should consider leaving the program, but the junior's 3-pointer to beat Kentucky Sunday could change that sentiment. (Garry Jones / Associated Press)

He scored 18 points, was 8-for-9 from the foul line and knocked down the trifecta after the Wildcats had come back and somehow tied the game at 71-71 with 22.9 seconds left. More importantly, he remained on the floor for the final shot and logged 26 minutes due to his improved play on the defensive end.

"Definitely the biggest shot of my life," Sosa said after the locker room had been cleared following the win. "It still hasn't hit me yet."

Sosa may have saved the Cardinals' season.

Let's face it. If Louisville had squandered a seven-point lead with 40 seconds left, I'm not sure that mentally they could have rebounded.

Sosa didn't just make the most pivotal shot of his life, but also the most important one of the season. He did it in a game Louisville had to have, not only because it came against rival Kentucky, but because of yet another slow start which included losses to Western Kentucky, Minnesota and UNLV.

"I'm not sure where I'd be right now," Sosa said. "Maybe I'd be working somewhere because I didn't really want to go anywhere else. This is where I want to be."

And now Pitino is able to write his latest chapter on Motivation 101.