Houston guard Emanuel Sharp (21) faces the crowd after falling to Florida in the national championship, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
With time winding down and Houston trailing by two, redshirt junior guard Emanuel Sharp left his feet while behind the arc, preventing him from picking up his dribble. A scramble for the ball followed as the final seconds ticked away.
As the buzzer sounded, Sharp stood stunned, his hands on his knees.
His teammates, along with Florida senior guard Walter Clayton Jr., came to console him, but Sharp remained nearly motionless until the Cougars returned to the locker room.
The doors remained closed for 30 minutes, where “a lot of emotions were running.” Once the locker room opened, Sharp never appeared during the 40 minute period to speak to the media.
“(Emanuel) came into the locker room and said, ‘I’m sorry,’ but you know it ain’t his fault. People from the outside are going to say he did this or he didn’t shoot that. Everyone’s got their opinion,” graduate forward J’Wan Roberts said. “But you know how special Emanuel is. I’m going to comfort him as much as possible and defend his name if anyone tries to make it worse than what it is.”
By Tuesday morning, Sharp had temporarily deactivated his Instagram, and after reactivating, he turned comments off. His X comments were flooded with hateful remarks.
Earlier in the tournament, the NCAA launched a video as part of its “Draw the Line” campaign in response to an uptick in betting-related harassment during March Madness. In the video titled “Don’t Be a Loser,” the NCAA reported that one in three student-athletes has experienced abuse tied to sports betting.
“Only a loser would harass college athletes after losing a bet, but it happens almost every day,” the video said.
For Sharp, that message quickly became reality. One lapse on the court turned him into a target on social media as Florida covered a -1.5 spread with a 65-63 win, leaving those who bet on the Cougars with a loss.
The play wasn’t the only moment that caused the Cougars to let a 12-point lead slip away, but it was the one the world saw. It was the moment that gave Florida its third national championship and left Houston with its seventh Final Four heartbreak.
“I made a mistake with the possession before. We’re not going to put the whole game on one play,” graduate guard L.J. Cryer said.
Internally, Houston isn’t placing blame or singling out the play.
Outside the locker room, it’s a different story, one that says more about the pressure placed on college athletes and sports gambling than it does about the possession.
I’m curious: if the ball left a single hand when he jumped and he never moved his feet from their position when he got the pass from his teammate, did he not still have a dribble?
I’m not quite following your question. Sharp had left both feet (when he jumped in the air) so he didn’t still have his dribble. Had he not left both feet, yes he’d still have had his dribble.
I watched this and had no idea what was going on. This story explains it. I feel bad for that kid but if you wait until the last minute to win you probably wont.
Cougar Spirit 1967-69 here. Bell ringer Dome for the Coogs Ruin the Bruins classic. I love this year’s team. Like everyone, I’m heartbroken. But, anyone attacking Emmanuel Sharp is so out of place, they should leave Texas. & Houston forever. Without Sharp, no Sweet Sixteen, No Final Four, no season. He showed his stuff as a classic Cougar all year. There isn’t one Cougar great who isn’t 100% proud & supportive. Disappointment is heavy. I’m dure Big E and Hakeem, Coach Lewis, all UH players & fans feel it. Give Florida credit. They played our game & pulled it off; not just against us. Great classic final. The team & Coach Sampson should be very proud. Fans, too. Thanks for a great year. Let Manny be. He’s the best of us
never lose sight of the age of these kids out there.
I think Nick Saban said it best “”when he commented that “if you don’t think the people in the locker room hurt more than you do, you’re completely wrong”.
Praise him for bringing the team to that point. Nobody should dwell on the one incident.
It’s like blaming the field-goal kicker for losing the game when he’s only on the field for 20 seconds of the 60 minutes.
I think he panic, unfortunately, but a job well done by coogs, oh they were so close.
Even though he felt pressured from the person guarding him I believe he still should have passed the ball or drove to the basket to draw a foul or attempted the shoot the ball at least but he is and always will be a remarkable player nonetheless
It’s really stunning to me that anyone would post anything hateful about this young man – or any NCAA or even professional athlete – for something that happened in a game. Sports are incredibly difficult and tough plays naturally happen all the time – if they didn’t then the games would be too predictable. The people making these comments should think about how well they’d have handled trying to get off a long three pointer with the clock winding down on the national championship and a 6’3″ defender flying right at them. And this is to say nothing of the fact that these athletes are generally huge winners in life to begin with, as they’ve managed to achieve a level of physical performance few of us can even dream of.
My goodness people, have some humanity.
It’s not one person that can win a game. Should not be just one shot. The team missed numerous opertunities to be more than 2 points ahead in a game. The team made a valiant effort. And unfortunately they lost. But it was a very exciting run!
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U of H had an awesome year, however all the players and staff could have done better in hindsight! Incredible and disappointing year! The best and worst of being a sports fan! I just hope we don’t have to wait too long before they get back into the Championship game again!!
Sharpe is the guy i wanted shooting the last shot hes been a bigtime clutch shooter. He misjudged that play because houston wasted too much time on that possession. He had clayton in the air he could have drew a foul and shot 3 free throws but he rushed it. The loss is no ones fault.