’One Shining Moment’: The Story of College Basketball’s Greatest Tradition

· Feb 26 - 4 minutes read

The Origins of ‘One Shining Moment’ in College Basketball

Undefeated Aura

While people are always sad to see March Madness end, they know the grand finale is going to include a montage of highlights set to the song One Shining Moment, which has become a great March Madness tradition going back to the late 1980s.

The song has really helped CBS in the TV era grow the popularity of the tournament. But how did it come together? Let’s look back at the story of college basketball’s greatest tradition.

One Shining Moment’: The Story of College Basketball's Greatest Tradition — Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils watches "One Shining Moment" with his team-Andy Lyons/Getty Images/AFP

ONE SHINING MOMENT 🙌#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/7x2R9DfyNM

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 9, 2024

Origin of ‘One Shining Moment’

There are many songs written about love, partying, and sadness. However, sports usually take a backseat in songwriting despite how passionate so many people feel about them.

But there was a decade (1977-86) when the songwriters were absolutely cooking with Queen turning We Are the Champions and We Will Rock You into arena staples. Rock band Survivor elevated the Rocky movie franchise with Eye of the Tiger in 1982.

In 1986, an obscure Michigan musician named David Barrett stayed at the bar after his set to watch Larry Bird play for the Celtics on TV. That inspired him the next day to write the lyrics down on a napkin for a song that became One Shining Moment.

He shared the lyrics with a high school friend, Armen Keteyian, who worked as a journalist for CBS Sports, and he passed it to CBS Sports’ creative director Doug Towey, who first wanted to use Barrett’s song after Super Bowl XXI.

The song was ready to go in a post-game package, but the game ran long, so they canceled the montage. But they asked for Barrett’s permission to use it at the end of that March’s NCAA tournament final when Indiana beat Syracuse in 1987. The song was a hit, and it stuck as a yearly tradition.

30 years ago today, “One Shining Moment” made its debut on CBS. Here’s the original version that started an incredible Tournament tradition. pic.twitter.com/NTUgfVZarW

— March Madness Men’s Basketball TV (@MM_MBB_TV) March 30, 2017

Barrett’s version was used from 1987-93 before other artists recorded covers of it, including Teddy Pendergrass, Luther Vandross, Jennifer Hudson, and Ne-Yo.

Let’s not forget that NBA legend Charles Barkley recorded a comedic version of the song when TBS started getting broadcast rights to the NCAA tournament too in 2016.

if your favorite version of One Shining Moment isn’t the Charles Barkley version then I don’t want it pic.twitter.com/WJT537ELdz

— brandie (@brandieeemac) March 21, 2024

Why One Shining Moment Resonates With March Madness Fans?

As we said before, there are not many songs that better capture the roller coaster feeling of sports. The highs and lows, and themes of overcoming adversity and giving it your all – all things that fit in well with March Madness tournaments.

The song plays over a montage of a great highlight package that always shows the most memorable plays and moments from the last three weeks in the tournament, helping fans enjoy the hype all over again.

if your favorite version of One Shining Moment isn’t the Charles Barkley version then I don’t want it pic.twitter.com/WJT537ELdz

— brandie (@brandieeemac) March 21, 2024

There’s also some real nostalgia for the Luther Vandross version, which is widely celebrated as the best version of the song and the one the broadcast has used the most. It’s believed to be the last song Vandross recorded before his stroke and death.

When they replaced the Vandross version with a Jennifer Hudson video and cover in 2010, fan reaction was extremely negative in defense of Vandross, who saw his version return in 2011. So, the excellence of Vandross singing the song adds to the legacy of One Shining Moment too.

Me: “I’m not gonna tear up during One Shining Moment.”

Luther Vandross: “The ball is tipped….”

Me: pic.twitter.com/F9n1VAZh0P

— Trey007 (@Tresse007) April 4, 2023