Moments such as those have a way of affecting players for years to come. Sometimes for the better, and in some instances for the worst.

Smart said his 15-foot jumper in the final three seconds, a shot that lifted the Hoosiers to a 74-73 win over Syracuse in the 1987 championship game, has never ventured far from his thoughts even all these years later.

“I always say the shot is chasing me because anything that goes on in your life — good or bad — your name is going to be attached to that moment,” said Smart, an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors. “People remember that shot, and a lot of kids look up to what I did.

"So I’ve always wanted to do things the right way ever since that moment, because I know that my name is tied to that moment."

While players like Simon and Hunt had well chronicled struggles after their much-hyped NCAA tournament exploits, players like Pinckney went on to achieve success as a pro. But only a select number of the Final Four participants either matched or elevated their success in the NBA.

Isiah Thomas (Indiana), Earvin "Magic" Johnson (Michigan State), Richard Hamilton (Connecticut), Jordan and Bird (Indiana State) come to mind.

The jury continues to deliberate on Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse) and Derrick Rose (Memphis), who are one-and-done phenoms that led their respective programs to the Final Four as freshmen before bolting to the NBA.

Longtime CBS analyst Billy Packer said this stage consists of superstar players who play big, good players who perform well in the spotlight and then those players like Hunt or North Carolina's Donald Williams, the 1993 tournament MOP, who have a great Final Four run only to never be heard again.

“The Anderson Hunts of the world become kind of a trivia situation,” Packer said. “Yet it’s a magical moment for any one of those three categories. It’s a magical part of their life.”

But how these players capitalized on their magical moments has varied over the years. Hunt, for instance, declared early for the NBA draft after the Runnin' Rebels' second Final Four appearance in 1991.

Hunt, a lights-out shooter and quality defender, soon found a market in the NBA didn't exist for a 6-1 shooting guard. He went undrafted in 1991, which led to a European tour mixed in with some legal trouble along the way.

In a recent interview with a Las Vegas newspaper, Hunt said he lives in his native Detroit where he sells real estate, but people close to him, including former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian, are unsure of his whereabouts or how to get in touch with Hunt.

His fall from the spotlight seems to haunt Tarkanian, who had plans to make Hunt his point guard had he returned for his senior season. Tarkanian still believes one season proving himself as a ball-handler would have made a difference in Hunt’s NBA fortunes.

“He had an attorney in town that was really telling him things,” Tarkanian said. “They were putting words in his head that really didn’t exist. They were telling him 'The Celtics like you, this team likes you, they are going to draft you here and there.' That’s what he wanted to hear, and none of that was true."

But for Simon, it seems he might have stayed too long. He had the full attention of the NBA after leading the Wildcats to the national championship. As a fearless leader who dared take the toughest shot, the 6-3 Simon had been projected as a mid-to-late first-round selection in the '97 NBA draft.

Simon, however, decided to return to school for his senior season and a chance to repeat as a national champion with all the key players returning. The Wildcats were, indeed, the team to the beat as the No. 1 squad for most of the year, but they bowed out in the Elite Eight to Utah.

Even worse, Simon’s stock plummeted. The Orlando Magic drafted Simon in the second round (42nd overall) of the '98 draft. He stuck one season with the Magic before bouncing around in Europe and the CBA.

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Simon had literally burst onto the scene and his performance in the Wildcats' Final Four run had him on the NBA's radar. His play had intrigued scouts and general managers. But given another year to dissect Simon’s game, they questioned his shooting technique and his lack of defensive quickness.

“He really kind of blew up in the Final Four, and probably in hindsight he should have declared for the NBA that year,” said former Arizona assistant John Rosborough, who was on the bench next to Lute Olson during the 1997 run. “I think there were some things the next year where people were really zeroing in on him that he became a little bit of a concern for the NBA player.”

But Simon doesn’t think about what his life might have been like had he declared when the spotlight was brightest.

"I don't think I should have (left early)," said Simon, who most recently was an assistant at his alma mater. "I really enjoyed my college time. To me, it’s the most special time of a young person’s life. I have no regrets about that at all.”

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