Sebastian Mack drove down the left side of the court, weaved to the opposite end and pulled up from 30 feet.
He sank it.
Mack defeated rival Henderson (Nev.) Liberty at the buzzer. Right after Liberty tied it at 55-55 with five seconds left, Henderson (Nev.) Coronado coach, Jeff Kaufman, held his timeout, wanting his senior guard to get the ball and go.
"We were all celebrating, and I looked over and he ran down their bench," Kaufman laughed. "It's not a great sportsmanship thing, but this was our rival school. It was a Tarkanian tournament. It was to advance to the final. That's just the guy he was, man. We're all celebrating, and he's proving his point, flexing his muscles."
SEBASTIAN MACK AT THE BUZZER! 馃ザ @S_mack1121
— BallerTV (@BallerTV) December 22, 2022
The UCLA commit's game winner lifted @Coronadohoops to the @TarkClassic Platinum Consolation Bracket Championship! pic.twitter.com/lIOjZoyQiY
Mack was fiercely loyal to his Coronado teammates. He brought a strong locker room presence and defended every player in the same uniform as him.
"I'm making him sound like he's a bully or something. He's not," Kaufman said. "He's just got that mentality where he looks you in the eye and you know that he's serious."
Hailing from Chicago, Mack quickly showed his toughness when he moved to Nevada. He began his high school career at Las Vegas (Nev.) Durango before transferring for his junior and senior seasons. Kaufman previously coached Chicago products, but Mack boasted another level of confidence on the court compared to past players.
"If you get in a fight, he's the guy you want on your side fighting with you," Kaufman said. "He's relentless, not that he's dirty or nasty or anything like that. When it comes to wanting to win and when it comes to wanting to play hard, he is a no nonsense kind of player."
That reflected in Mack's time at UCLA.
Before announcing his transfer commitment to Missouri on Monday, Mack played two seasons for the Bruins. Opponents didn't always want to be around him because of his physicality, boasting a knack for rebounding as a guard and running downhill at opponents on both offense and defense.
"He'll just go through a building," Kaufman said. "It's really just his mentality about how he approaches life, and sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, but for the most part, it's very good. He's all around a good person."
Knowing Mick Cronin for years, Kaufman got the UCLA coach on campus to see Mack play. Mack set the tone ...
