Houston guard Emanuel Sharp (21) faces the crowd after falling to Florida in the national championship, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
With time winding down and Houston trailing by two, redshirt junior guard Emanuel Sharp left his feet while behind the arc, preventing him from picking up his dribble. A scramble for the ball followed as the final seconds ticked away.
As the buzzer sounded, Sharp stood stunned, his hands on his knees.
His teammates, along with Florida senior guard Walter Clayton Jr., came to console him, but Sharp remained nearly motionless until the Cougars returned to the locker room.
The doors remained closed for 30 minutes, where “a lot of emotions were running.” Once the locker room opened, Sharp never appeared during the 40 minute period to speak to the media.
“(Emanuel) came into the locker room and said, ‘I’m sorry,’ but you know it ain’t his fault. People from the outside are going to say he did this or he didn’t shoot that. Everyone’s got their opinion,” graduate forward J’Wan Roberts said. “But you know how special Emanuel is. I’m going to comfort him as much as possible and defend his name if anyone tries to make it worse than what it is.”
By Tuesday morning, Sharp had temporarily deactivated his Instagram, and after reactivating, he turned comments off. His X comments were flooded with hateful remarks.
Earlier in the tournament, the NCAA launched a video as part of its “Draw the Line” campaign in response to an uptick in betting-related harassment during March Madness. In the video titled “Don’t Be a Loser,” the NCAA reported that one in three student-athletes has experienced abuse tied to sports betting.
“Only a loser would harass college athletes after losing a bet, but it happens almost every day,” the video said.
For Sharp, that message quickly became reality. One lapse on the court turned him into a target on social media as Florida covered a -1.5 spread with a 65-63 win, leaving those who bet on the Cougars with a loss.
The play wasn’t the only moment that caused the Cougars to let a 12-point lead slip away, but it was the one the world saw. It was the moment that gave Florida its third national championship and left Houston with its seventh Final Four heartbreak.
“I made a mistake with the possession before. We’re not going to put the whole game on one play,” graduate guard L.J. Cryer said.
Internally, Houston isn’t placing blame or singling out the play.
Outside the locker room, it’s a different story, one that says more about the pressure placed on college athletes and sports gambling than it does about the possession.
sports@thedailycougar.com
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“Emanuel Sharp faces harassment after Houston’s national championship loss” was originally posted on The Cougar