April 4, 2016. Those last two shots.

First, the acrobatic, game-tying 3-pointer from the University of North Carolina’s Marcus Paige with 4.7 seconds left — a shot of a lifetime. But what came next is eternal.

The inbound went to Villanova’s Ryan Arcidiacono, who ferociously made his way up the court. His trailing teammate, Kris Jenkins, called out his name, caught a scoop pass from Arcidiacono behind the 3-point line and let it go. At the buzzer, with the red light illuminated around the game clock, the basketball dropped, a dagger in the hearts of North Carolina coaches, players and fans. Game over. Villanova was the new national champion.

That night featured a matchup between the country’s most talented team, No. 1 seed and East Region champion UNC, and the tournament’s hottest team, No. 2 seed and South Region champion Villanova. The Tar Heels ultimately fell short of their sixth NCAA title, while the Wildcats claimed their second championship in program history, and first since 1985. With nine ties and nine lead changes, the game was a 40-minute chess match, though we really only remember its final seconds.

“Clearly, I’m biased, but it’s the best ending in NCAA history,” says Arcidiacono. “The last 15 seconds or so was probably more ridiculous than any other final.” The last 13.5 seconds, to be exact.

A year has come and gone, yet the memory the 2016 national championship is fresh. UNC is making a redemptive return to the Final Four of the 2017 NCAA tournament, and on the other side of the bracket, Villanova’s run toward a repeat came to a premature end with a second-round exit. So, during the South Region final, Villanova’s Jenkins sat in the crowd supporting UNC’s Nate Britt — his adoptive brother since middle school and national title opponent in 2016. After the Tar Heels advanced to their second-straight Final Four — in game-winning fashion eerily reminiscent of how their last tournament came to a screeching halt — reporters found Jenkins with a UNC Final Four cap on his head. They asked him about April 4, 2016. UNC players, still chasing the ghost of Jenkins’ shot, got the questions about that night, too.

Almost every day of their lives, those who shared that court in Houston still relive the game’s final seconds. For both sides, even the champions, it’s been difficult to move on.

In early March, before the start of the 2017 tournament, we spoke to all of the players on the court at the end of the 2016 title game, as well as both coaches, and Grant Hill, who was courtside between fellow in-game analyst Bill Raftery and play-by-play guru Jim Nantz as part of the Final Four commentating team. All were open about what’s still an emotional roller coaster for everyone. The ending of 2016’s national championship was, and remains — in its purest form — what March Madness is all about.

Everyone quoted is identified by the titles they held during the 2016 national championship.