YouTube Gold: 1999’s One Shining Moment

UConn’s greatest championship and a moment of immense personal triumph for Khalid El-Amin

In 1999, the CBS/NCAA tradition of One Shining Moment was 12 years old and it had begun to change.

David Barrett, who wrote the song in 1986 after watching Larry Bird play on TV, sung it from 1987 to 1993 when he handed it off to Teddy Pendergrass.

The shots before the music comes in are much faster than they used to be with 20 individual subjects. The video guys must be getting a bit bored or maybe it’s just a new crew with a sense of humor because the nature of the images is a bit different. It starts with a cheerleader but also includes images of a guy just glaring at the camera with no observable relationship to any game, an Elvis impersonator, a mascot reading a newspaper and a couple of other mascots getting up close and personal with the camera.

Villanova takes the court during the brief Steve Lappas era, then a bored kid wakes up in the stands right before the traditional band shot followed by a look at the Duke cheerleaders in action.

The dancing fans shot goes to two large gentlemen who do a synchronized move then a team comes on the court followed by three shirtless guys who seem focused on a cheerleader. An ASU band - we assume Arkansas State - gets their moment next

The tip-off shot is from above, which is a bit of a departure, then a Michigan State player jostles with an opponent for position. Kentucky’s Jamaal Magliore gets the “running for your life” shot, followed by a look at Michigan State’s Mateen Cleaves. His time in the spotlight would come soon.

There’s a nice shot of the Iowa kids surrounding Tom Davis, perhaps after beating Arkansas. It was Iowa’s most recent Sweet Sixteen and the end of Davis’s career. There’s a shot of Scoonie Penn hugging coach Jim O’Brien. The team would get to the Final Four but it would be later vacated by the NCAA.

Wally Szczerbiak gets some face time then after a few more shots, we get Elton Brand dunking and then a victory celebration by Southwest Missouri State. They gave Duke a good game but coach Steve Alford overheard Duke’s locker room at halftime and warned his team that they were going to get Full Duke in the second half, and he was right.

A Michigan State Spartan exults while running down court, then we get another shot of Brand as he takes the “beat of the heart” slot.

Oklahoma’s Eduardo Najera sets a brutal pick on Cleaves to free up a teammate then Shane Battier stops a dunk for Duke. It might be Najera in the next shot but we’re not sure.

Spartan Andre Hutson gets the “more than a race” slot as he beats Kentucky’s Scott Padgett to the ball and, presumably, basket.

Szczerbiak and his Miami of Ohio teammates run in glee, probably after upsetting Washington by one point in the first round, then UK’s Heshimu Evans sprints downcourt and gives the ball up to Wayne Turner for a nice dunk. Teamwork!

Harold “The Show” Arceneaux goes up for a basket. He was very popular with Duke fans after Weber State knocked UNC out in the first round.

UConn’s remarkable Khalid El-Amin and two teammates get a bench shot then soon after Szczerbiak returns with a big dunk against Utah.

Then there’s a shot of a player who realizes his team is about to go out and someone overshoots Magliore who can’t reel the pass in in time.

Then there’s a shot of Cleaves and it’s hard to tell if he’s happy or upset.

Then comes one of the coolest shots ever seen in the whole series: as the clock runs out, the ball is tossed to the rafters and the camera up there catches it as it flies quite nearby.

El-Amin hits a behind-the-back pass to a teammate for a nice shot against Ohio State to kick off the Final Four segment. Jake Voskuhl gets a dunk right after that

Chris Carrawell then hits a jumper for Duke in the championship game followed by Brand on the bench cheering his teammates on.

El-Amin then dives for a loose ball and makes an amazing pass to a streaking Rip Hamilton.

Then Brand gets a powerful dunk and the final montage is on. He high fives with Corey Maggette - Battier is right behind him - and after a shot of an excited UConn player, Hamilton hits a shot over Avery.

The Duke part of the video closes with Mike Krzyzewski hugging William Avery, with, we think, both championship rings that Duke had won at that point showing.

The last shot is of Rashamel Jones and El-Amin celebrating. And give El-Amin credit - that kid had one of the great games in NCAA history by a point guard. He was magnificent.

Next up - the Flintstones of Michigan State.