**Prologue: One Shot, One Destiny**
📍 NCAA Final – Phoenix Stadium
📅 March 2023
🐾 Arizona Wildcats Chant: "Claws Out, Rise Up!"
(Call and Response Style)
Call:
🔊 "Who's got the claws?!"
Crowd Response: "WE DO!"
Call:
🔊 "Who's on the prowl?!"
Crowd Response: "WILDCATS NOW!"
Call:
🔊 "Desert storm comin' in strong!"
Crowd Response: "Red and blue where we belong!"
All Together (Chanting Rhythm):
🎶 "Claws out, rise up, fight for every play!
Arizona pride, we never fade away!"
(Repeat Twice – louder each time)
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🐂 Texas Longhorns Chant: "Hook 'Em Hard!"
(Stomp-Clap Rhythm Style)
Stomp–Clap–Stomp–Clap:
🔊 "TEXAS STRONG—WE RIDE AS ONE!"
🔊 "HOOK 'EM HARD—TIL THE JOB IS DONE!"
Clap–Clap:
🎶 "Orange flames, we burn the court,
Lone Star pride, the fiercest sort!"
Call and Response:
Call: "Who's got the horns?"
Response: "WE DO, WE DO!"
Final Rally:
🗣️ "Charge up! Power on! Longhorns fight 'til the break of dawn!"
Filled the atmosphere.
The roar was thunder.
Over 50,000 fans filled the Phoenix stadium, each heartbeat syncing with the rhythm of sneakers squeaking and the hollow thump of a basketball echoing across the hardwood floor.
The scoreboard read:
**Arizona Wildcats – 78**
**Texas Longhorns – 78**
**00:07 seconds left.**
**Timeout.**
This was the game—the showdown sports pundits called the next chapter in NCAA legend. The Arizona Wildcats, known for their creative agility and relentless spirit. And the Texas Longhorns, are a factory of discipline, talent, and the NBA-bred beasts stood toe-to-toe under the nation's brightest lights.
But in this final moment, all eyes were on one name:
**Timileyin Sunday.**
"Timi."
Twenty-two. Nigerian-American. A freshman. A miracle.
The world called him **"the next big thing."** But right now, standing just off the court, hands on hips, sweat glistening like truth beneath the floodlights—he looked like a young man carrying a nation on his shoulders.
Standing before him was a man who had known pressure like this all his life.
**Scott Dawns.**
A coach. A mentor. A father. And the man who had found Timi three months ago—a boy unqualified for the draft. Now, he was a presence everyone revered.
Scott placed a firm hand on Timi's shoulder.
*"You know, Timi,"* he said, his voice calm amid chaos. *"I've sacrificed everything for this moment. I walked away from billions, from legacy, from the name behind America's richest credit empire... to build this. This court. This team. You."*
Timi didn't answer. He stared ahead, chest rising and falling like the rhythm of a drum.
*"I used to think success was about money,"* Scott continued. *"Now I know it's about this. Right here. Where one shot can rewrite a life."*
Timi finally turned to him. *"What if I miss?"*
Scott smiled faintly. *"Then you'll still be the kid who made the world believe again."*
The buzzer called. Timeout over.
The final play was drawn. One pass. One pivot. One shot.
The arena lights dimmed just slightly—as if even electricity was holding its breath.
The whistle blew.
The ball went in the air.
And the world watched it fly.
**Would it go in?**
- - -
*"Seven seconds. Seven seconds to decide everything."*
*"I can feel my heartbeat in my fingertips. It's not fear. It's not nerves. It's something heavier—like the weight of every sacrifice that got me here."*
*"Coach believes in me. The team believes in me. But do I?"*
*"No. It's not about belief anymore. It's about instinct. Muscle memory. The countless nights shooting in empty gyms until the echoes of the ball hitting the rim sounded like a prayer."*
*"One shot."*
*"One moment."*
*"No hesitation."*
*"I rise."*
---
*"The ball left my fingertips, spinning like fate itself—twisting, turning, defying gravity. For a second, it felt like the whole world was suspended in that spiral. Hope. Doubt. Destiny. They were all carried in the seams of the ball."*
*"And then—"* !!!
—
**Do you know that moment when everything else disappears—the moment when pressure, greatness, and even failure balance on your shoulders?** That was what was happening to me. But it wasn't always like this.
Every workout used to be just routine—until one day, it wasn't.
As a child, dreaming of playing sports felt like a mission waiting to be accomplished, even though my chance to shine never seemed to come. I always sensed there was something extraordinary inside me.
My name is **Timileyin Sunday**, which means "the Lord supports me." **Timi, for short.** And I invite you to join me on the journey of how I pursued my lifelong goal—**how I ultimately fulfilled my NBA dreams and became one of the finest basketball players the league has ever witnessed.**
"Built not by legacy, but by love ❤️"
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