Colin Mitchell’s title-winning buzzer-beater honors his late grandfather
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - APRIL 5: Colin Mitchell #25 of the Mary Washington Eagles celebrates in the stands after shooting a buzzer beater shot to defeat the Emory Eagles during the Division III Men's Basketball Championship held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on April 5, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jack Dempsey/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) | NCAA Photos via Getty Images INDIANAPOLIS — The two weeks in between Mary Washington’s win over Trinity in the national semifinal and the Division-III National Championship Game in Indianapolis against Emory felt like an eternity for sophomore guard Colin Mitchell. In Emporia, 124 miles south of UMW’s Fredericksburg campus, three days on from helping the Eagles clinch a spot in that game, Mitchell sat with his family, grieving the loss, and celebrating the life of his grandfather, Cliff, who passed just 10 days earlier at the age of 79.
Memories flowed back to Mitchell. Long-gone days of youth, in the fields of his grandparents’ farm in Southern Virginia, where his father Jason and mother Tricia would often bring him along. It was at that farm where Mitchell learned how to fish with his grandfather, and then later, learned how to drive.
Those – along with some of Mitchell’s basketball games growing up – were the activities that brought the family together. But after beating cancer four times, Cliff’s health went downhill in his late 70s. Mitchell, playing college basketball, didn’t get to see his family as often as he would’ve liked as his grandfather went into hospice.
Mitchell was able to see him once in hospice before he passed, but he couldn’t be beside him. The family came together for the funeral, but then Mitchell had to go back to Fredericksburg to prepare. The next family gathering would be in Indianapolis.
Between his dad’s side of the family, which included Mitchell’s recently widowed grandmother Joan, and his mom’s side of the family, which lives just three hours away from Indianapolis, Mitchell told Mid-Major Madness that 20 family members were at the national championship game. And they wouldn’t leave disappointed. Mary Washington blew a 13-point lead in the final minutes as Ethan Fauss came down the court and made a three for Emory to tie the game at 73 with seconds remaining.
Continue to the original source for the full article.