The Duke Blue Devils advanced to Monday’s national championship game Saturday evening by ousting Big East Tournament Champion West Virginia, 78-57.
But that wasn’t what fans will remember from the game.
Mountaineer forward Da’Sean Butler went down with 8:59 remaining in the game — the 2010 Lowe’s Senior Class Award winner’s knee just gave out on him.
It was one of those moments when you don’t understand why the station would keep replaying the injury over and over again. West Virginia coach Bob Huggins rushed out to his fallen star.
The veteran coach held Butler’s head in his arms as tears streamed down the player’s face.
“He just told me not to worry about it, that I'll be fine," Butler said in a postgame interview.
Many more words were spoken with his actions.
To see a coach try to console an inconsolable player like that was heart-wrenching. It was like a scene straight out of “Saving Private Ryan.”
“That’s between him and I,” Huggins said when asked what he said to Butler.
Huggins went on to say that he's never coached a better combination of player and person than Butler.
No matter what your personal feelings are toward Huggins, that moment was something everyone can relate to as a fellow human being.
If you haven’t seen the sequence yet, YouTube it, and be prepared for the water works.
