Story of Tyler Trapani: Scooter Tears Up a Little

There is a huge tradition at UCLA (probably at all schools that have big basketball programs) where the gutty little walk on makes the team and spends a year or two with the team.  He may, at some point, get a partial schoolarship, but that isn't why he walks on.  He loves the game and loves the school and would rather go to UCLA and warm the bench then go to another school and maybe play.
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And towards the end of blowouts at home - espically as the year runs down - students scream for them to be put in the game.  Well Don pointed this out to me and it is the best story I have seen in a long long time.
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One more thing you should know - Pauley Pavilion is closing for refurbishing and expansion.  Pauley was built for John Wooden after he won a National Championship - and he went one to win nine more. And Tyler scored his points on the John Wooden Court - the last basket scored before closure.
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Tyler Trapani, John Wooden's Great-Grandson, Scores Final Basket At Pauley Pavilion

by Brian Floyd • Feb 27, 2011 8:00 AM EST

On a day when fans came to say goodbye, for now, to Pauley Pavilion, it was a player with ties to the most beloved UCLA figure that sent the old court out in style. Tyler Trapani, great-grandson of UCLA legend John Wooden, was in the right place at the right time, collecting an airball and laying it in during the final moments of the Bruins 71-49 upset win over the Arizona Wildcats.

You can't script a more fitting way to send the "old" court out in style than this. The beauty of sports is the unscripted, unfiltered nature of the game, and Trapani's basket is an excellent example of how a small moment can mean so much more. It was the only time he touched the ball, shortly after being inserted into the game as head coach Ben Howland emptied the bench, but he sure made it count.

Sure the court will be back in the same place under the same name, but this was the end of the old, traditional Pauley Pavilion. And what a way to say goodbye.