Alabama walk-on Delaney Heard relishes rare March Madness moment
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Legacy Arena’s loudest cheer during Alabama’s NCAA Tournament opener came when the game was already well out of hand.
There wasn’t much drama in top-seeded Alabama’s 96-75 drubbing of No. 16 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. However, the blowout did include a clutch basket late in the second half.
Leading by 21 points, Alabama emptied its bench with less than a minutes remaining, giving its walk-ons a rare opportunity to test out their dancing shoes on the big stage. Twenty-two seconds later junior Delaney Heard found himself with an opportunity he’s been preparing for his whole life.
Catching a pass from fellow walk-on Jaden Quinerly, Heard found himself wide open on the wing. Without hesitating, he knocked down a 3 to send Alabama fans into frenzy.
“I remember Two [Quinerly] driving down the lane, and their big dude stepped up,” Heard recalled. “I said, ‘Two, Two,Two,’ just hoping he would look back and throw the ball back. Luckily he saw me and through the ball back. Once I caught it, I’m like ‘I’m definitely shooting this.’
Heard’s 3-point ability is nothing new for Alabama. The Canton, Georgia native is 3-for-4 from beyond the arc on the season, knocking down 3s in blowout wins over Florida and Vanderbilt. Still, those didn’t come on as big of a stage as the one Thursday afternoon.
Heard said he didn’t feel any nerves about the shot, stating he was too locked in on making the right play for his team. And in the biggest moment of his college career, that’s exactly what he did."
“I want to say it felt good when I let it go, but it felt kind of long,” Heard said of the shot. “Luckily it went straight through the net. It was excited to see that. That’s going to going to be one of my best memories playing for Alabama.”
Heard has now scored in five of his 12 appearances this season. He’s averaging 1.1 points while shooting 4 of 9 from the floor over that span.
“He’s one of us,” Miller said. “Everybody in here is just really happy for Delaney just to see him come in here and hit shots like that. It’s not his first one, and it won’t be his last one.”
Thursday’s 3 will likely be Heard’s final highlight in the tournament. Alabama will face much tougher competition moving forward beginning Saturday when it takes on No. 8 seed Maryland in the Round of 32. Still, Heard is hopeful he’ll get another shot at the big stage.
“I’m hoping every game we go out we have a dominant performance like that so we have a chance to get in at the end,” Heard. “If so, I’ll be ready for it.”