“The Season of Zion” will end without Zion.
Duke’s 68-67 upset loss to Michigan State in the finals of the East Region means that, among other things, Zion Williamson’s tremendous 2018-19 season and overall college career will come to an end at least one game earlier than anticipated. As much as everyone enjoys seeing Duke go down, not being able to watch their star do his thing on college basketball’s biggest stage feels like a loss for the average American sports fan.
For fans of Virginia, Texas Tech, Auburn and (obviously) Michigan State on the other hand, Zion’s absence in Minneapolis won’t be met with anything other than relief. Part of that is because it means there will be more light shined on the accomplishments of their respective teams, and another, likely more important part is that it makes the dream of their respective teams cutting down the nets inside U.S. Bank Stadium that much easier to visualize. After all, Duke defeated Virginia twice in ACC play this season, and also knocked off Auburn and Texas Tech on neutral floors during the non-conference portion of the year.
Those four victories provide little solace for the Blue Devils at the moment. Neither does the fact that their efforts over the previous four months are likely to be remembered as much as anything else when people remembered the 2018-19 season. How could they not?
The opening night smashing of Kentucky, losing in Maui for the first time ever in a classic against Gonzaga, the Tre Jones injury, Cam Reddish’s heroics to beat Florida State, the historic comeback against Louisville, the shoe blowout seen ‘round the world, the ACC tournament thriller against UNC followed by the title a night later, R.J. Barrett being as good as advertised, the two heart-stopping tournament wins over Central Florida and Virginia Tech, Zion, Zion, Zion, Zion, Zion.
The final chapter will be remembered clearly well, of course. It always is.
People still talk about the Fab Five. They talk about the long shorts, the merchandise sales, how three of them went on to become stars in the NBA, and how their legacy changed the college game. They also still talk about the back-to-back national championship game losses. They certainly still talk about the ending of the second one.
People also still talk about the 2014-15 Kentucky team that became the first in college basketball history to start a season 38-0. People never talk about that team without at least mentioning that the Wildcats didn’t become the first team to reach 40-0.
Now Duke and Zion join that complicated list of the greatest “yeah, but” teams in college basketball history.
Williamson himself put it best in the locker room after the loss to Michigan State.
“This season has been movie,” Williamson said. “It’s just one of those movies without the greatest ending.”
With the NBA appearing to move closer and closer to abolishing the so-called “one and done” rule, it doesn’t feel hyperbolic to predict that we may never see a college basketball season like the one Williamson had ever again. A freshman who arrived at the sport’s most prestigious program with as much hype and intrigue as any we’ve ever seen, and then who went on to do things that made all that hype and intrigue seem tempered.
Did he have the greatest season of any Duke player ever? Did he have the greatest season of any college basketball player of the last decade? Zion was so brilliant in 2018-19, that these are the types of the questions that will be debated in the months and even perhaps years to come. Unfortunately for Williamson, the way the season ended will factor into the answers of many people.
One thing that can’t be debated is that for the span of a few months in late 2018 and early 2019, the most talked about athlete in the United States was a college basketball player. That hasn’t been the case in a long time, and it’s likely to be a long while before it is again.
Though he may have fallen just short of playing on the sport’s biggest stage, Zion Williamson made college basketball better during his brief stint as a Duke Blue Devil. He also entertained the hell out of this country in the process. For that, anyone and everyone who cares about college hoops, should be thankful.