SAN DIEGO — The first of Dylan Darling’s four dribbles to a dream came exactly at midcourt, right on the March Madness logo, foreshadowing the niche of NCAA men’s tournament lore he was about to create for himself. There were 3.2 seconds on the clock.
The second-round game in Viejas Arena between No. 5 seed St. John’s and No. 4 Kansas was tied at 65. The Red Storm had given back all of a 14-point lead over the final nine minutes, losing their grip on a game they had securely in hand. The Jayhawks had tied it with 13.1 seconds remaining, then chiseled down the time St. John’s would have to go for the win with a succession of four straight fouls.
By the time Kansas had run out of fouls to give, the Red Storm had nearly run out of ways to win. A complex play was out of the question. Darling made a suggestion to coach Rick Pitino: “Run ‘Power.’ ”
“Power” is a high ball screen by star big man Zuby Ejiofor for the point guard, who happens to be Darling. And Darling happened to be scoreless in the game, missing all four of his shots, all from three-point range—and missing them badly. “I was garbage tonight,” Darling says.
In theory, this is the last guy you’d want taking the shot with the season on the line. But Pitino calls Darling “Bells” for a reason, which he explained after a win over Xavier in January: “He’s got balls as big as church bells.”
Ahem. “Bells” it is. And it took a set of church bells—some daring from Darling—to call a play for himself at that moment.
Pitino, on his point guard’s request to call his own number, when his number had been zero all game: “I walk away and I said, ‘Wait a second. He hasn’t scored a bucket and he wants to run a play for himself.’ But he’s Bells.”
NOTHING LIKE THIS SPORT 🔥#MarchMadness https://t.co/fsz9U502ur pic.twitter.com/SvmVUiTw8U
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 22, 2026
The second of Darling’s four dribbles to a dream came on the edge of the “NCAA” circle on the perimeter of the March Madness logo. There were 2.3 seconds left.
NCAA rule changes a few years ago cleared the way for players to transfer multiple times without sitting out a season, and Darling was one of thousands of them to take advantage of it. After two years at Washington State, the product of Spokane, spent a year at Idaho State and filled it up, averaging 19.6 points and 5.7 assists per game. Last spring, St. John’s assistant coach Taliek Brown put in the first call to Darling, asking if he’d be interested in coming across the country to play for the Red Storm.
“I was a bit starstruck,” he says. But Darling was the classic kid who skipped school the first two days of the NCAA tournament to watch games all day. He wanted desperately to participate in the Big Dance, and St. John’s was a straight path to getting there. “I just wanted to be able to play in games like this.”
Darling liked the role that Pitino described for him, largely as a facilitator for a high-dollar NIL lineup led by Ejiofor and three other transfers with higher profiles: Bryce Hopkins, Dillon Mitchell and Ian Jackson. That’s how he ended up in Jamaica, N.Y., starting early in the season and then again late, as St. John’s rolled to the Big East regular-season and tournament championships.
“Everybody said the most glowing things about him, that he has no fear at all,” Pitino said. “He obviously averages, what, 18, 19 a game, leads in assists. Sometimes guys like that who are always trying to prove themselves really reach back and work at it.”
And so Darling did, earning Pitino’s trust even while some St. John’s fans thought he played too much—and cringed every time he teed up a jump shot from deep.
The third of Darling’s four dribbles to a dream came with 1.9 seconds left, just outside the three-point arc that was mocking him—he was 0 for 16 from deep in the last three games. Clearly, he was not pulling up there. He kept going downhill, while nothing about “Power” played out like it’s drawn up.
Ejiofor did not set a screen, fading outside and to the left. That effectively removed him from the play, but it importantly pulled Kansas shot blocker Flory Bidunga away from the paint as well. And Darling did not go to his left, even though he’s left-handed. Meanwhile, Jayhawks guards Darryn Peterson and Melvin Council Jr., both tried to cover St. John’s guard Oziyah Sellers as he ran from left to right to the wing. That left Joson Sanon wide open in the corner, which is one of the passing options off “Power”—but Darling kept going against Kansas’s Elmarko Jackson, angling for the basket and accelerating.
“He’s extremely fast,” Pitino said.
The fourth and final Darling dribble to a dream came at the edge of the lane, 10 to 12 feet from the basket. There were 1.2 seconds left. He’d gotten his shoulders past Jackson by that point, and it was time for liftoff. But Darling jumped off his wrong foot for a right-handed layup, going off his right leg. That might be due to his natural left-handedness, but it made for a bit of an awkward gather and takeoff—right leg kicked out sideways, right arm extended. It wasn’t the most artistic layup.
The ball kissed off the glass with 0.3 left. By the time it dropped through the net, the clock had run out and the backboard was lit up orange. It actually took a smidge longer than a full 40 minutes for Dylan Darling to score against Kansas and notch the 67–65 final score.
🚨🚨🚨#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/LGhgjoNDEn
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 22, 2026
“What a way to get your first bucket, man,” Ejiofor says.
“Bells” tolled for Kansas, but Darling’s momentum carried him under the basket on the baseline. It took a beat to realize that he’d suddenly claimed St. John’s legend status.
“I didn’t even see the ball go in,” he says. “I just heard everybody going crazy.”
Darling looked into the roaring St. John’s cheering section, raised his arms and beckoned them with his fingers to keep cheering. Then his teammates arrived, taking him to the ground and burying him in a joyous pileup.
“I lost a shoe,” Darling says. “I didn’t even know where I was. I felt like a thousand pounds were on top of me. I was getting crushed, but it was a hell of a moment.”
Dream achieved. March hero status secured in an instant. But the dreaming continues, as the Red Storm advance to play No. 1 overall seed Duke in Washington, D.C.
At the St. John’s locker room, mega-booster and alum Mike Repole—who puts most of the oomph into the Red Storm’s considerable NIL war chest—grabbed Darling and hugged him. Hugged him again. Planted a kiss on his cheek.
“I was a freshman at St. John’s in 1986,” Repole says. “I went there because of Chris Mullin and Walter Berry and Bill Wennington [from the 1985 Final Four team]. Now it’s been about 25 tough years [actually 27 since the Red Storm’s last Sweet 16, in 1999]. But you know what? The last two years have been amazing with Coach Pitino, and this is the win of wins.”
On the sideline after Darling’s shot, Pitino briefly brought his hands to his face, but otherwise didn’t celebrate. He moved quickly to shake hands with the Jayhawks, letting his players do the celebrating on the court. Bill Self, on the winning end of a famous buzzer beater that got the 2008 national championship game into overtime, took the gut punch this time.
Pitino is 73 years old, and he’s seen some stuff in his basketball life. He’s felt March karma cuff him around, watching an overachieving season at Kentucky end on a jump shot by Duke star Christian Laettner in 1992—a play that might be the most memorable in the history of March Madness.
“I’ve been on winning [side] at the buzzer and losing at the buzzer,” Pitino said, although never on the winning side in the Big Dance. “And tonight a player—I just can’t imagine a player today, in today’s world, with all the scrutiny, wanting the ball when he’s shooting terrible.
“So you win some, you lose some. And I’m hoping we can get Duke at the buzzer next to make up for that Christian Laettner shot.”
More March Madness From Sports Illustrated
Listen to SI’s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Bells’ at the Buzzer: How Dylan Darling Delivered a March Madness Miracle for St. John’s.
