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This is what it’s all about

Fairleigh Dickinson senior Nadi Beciri’s final college season looked like it was going to be a disappointing ending to a solid career. After being a contributor for the Knights as a sophomore and junior, Beciri only played in FDU’s first two games this season before a back injury sidelined him for 30 straight games.

But Beciri won’t leave school with a sour taste in his mouth, because he got a moment to shine on the biggest stage. Coach Greg Herenda put Beciri in for the final seconds of the Knights’ blowout first-round loss to Gonzaga last night and Beciri took advantage of the opportunity by scoring a basket. He then went straight over to the bench to give his coach a big hug. 

“That was kind of our victory tonight, that we played a great team and fought and never quit,” Herenda said after the game

“Nadi is one of the nicest kids and grown men—he’s a grown man now—that to know him on our campus, he is like the Pied Piper, he walks around and there's love and he’s a great kibitzer, as my mother would say, he can talk, and you love him,” Herenda continued. “When he couldn’t play it really hurt. As we went down, he said, Coach, I want to dress, I'm feeling better, can I dress and can I potentially play? I said, Nadi, if you can play, I'm going to play you.

“Tonight, our trainer said it would be safe for him to play. His back was really—he couldn't travel. You guys know, when you have a bad back, you can't do anything. And how that ball bounced to him and how he like lumbered to the basket and then I'm mad at him, I said, Nadi, I need 50 [points]. That was the second goal, to get to 50, and he’s got 49 on the foul line. But he was—I don't think he knew where he was.

“Nadi Beciri, man, he is going to be a very successful person. Write that name down. He is a business major. And a beautiful person. And if he sits down for an interview, he's got the job, trust me.”

He’ll be on the “One Shining Moment” montage for sure. 

Ja Morant is the first star of March Madness

Murray State routed No. 5 seed Marquette, 83–64, behind a truly historic performance from future NBA star Ja Morant. The sophomore point guard had 17 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds to become only the eighth player to have a triple-double in the NCAA tournament. He’s only the second player in the past 20 years to have at least 15 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds in any game.

The only one not impressed was Morant himself.

Get ready to drop everything tomorrow night to see what he does against Florida State. 

Farewell to a true legend

Ichiro’s unparalleled baseball career came to an end yesterday in Japan. There never was another player like him and it’s safe to say there never will be again. As great a player as he was, his impact on Japanese baseball may be his greatest legacy. The fact that teammate Yusei Kikuchi was literally brought to tears as Ichiro exited the field is all your need to know. 

The best of SI

Michael McKnight wrote a great piece on short notice about the New Mexico State player whose buzzer beater attempt just barely failed

Around the sports world

Jimmer Fredette is coming back to America to play for the god-awful Suns.

This is my least favorite part of March Madness

We might not see a dunk more violent than this

Nobody bets on the tournament

Chuck reacts to the New Mexico State-Auburn finish

He’s obviously biased but this was the best finish of the day.

This is a professional basketball player

That’s Amida Brimah. His free-throw percentage has dropped from 60.7% last year to 33.7% this year. 

How was there that much soda in that little cup?

Meet the guy who creates WWE’s rings

This does not surprise me

Look, a list of the saddest people in New York

Those two minutes were great, though

Not sports

A Texas man brought a steer to a Petco to test how lenient their policy on leashed animals is. ... A company is willing to pay one lucky person $1,000 to watch all 20 Marvel movies back-to-back. ... When the floodwaters receded in Nebraska, two guys found a fridge full of cold beer in the middle of a field. ... Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke wrote a personal essay for The New Yorker in which she reveals that she had two near-fatal brain aneurysms.

Spag bol

Who put Dunkin’ Donuts in charge of a train station?

No chance in hell I’m attaching jet engines to my hands

I guess MythBusters is still a thing?

A good song

Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.