Behind the Photo: Matt Weyand's Splash

The primary position to photograph basketball is from the baseline under the team’s offensive basket. Since multiple Arizona Athletics photographers cover basketball games, this allows us to take chances from different angles. For the second half, I stayed on the north end (visitor’s side), hoping for moments like this.  After a player knocks down a shot, oftentimes they turn back around to celebrate as they run up court.  The primary photographer typically misses this “jube” moment of shot reaction, but my position across court gave me a perfect view. Normally, I wouldn't haven't been able to get both Matt and the joyous bench reaction together in one photo, but for this moment I had the best seat in the house.  

Once a Wildcat victory seems to be well in hand, the players that don't see regular playing time take the court for the final moments of the game. The starting rotation players then become their teammates’ biggest cheerleaders. As the game situation allows, they want them to do one thing: shoot. As Matt gathered to shoot from the arc, I could see the energy building behind him. I knew I had to photograph this sequence all the way through.  Once the ball went through the net, the bench went insane.  I stayed locked in on Matt as he made his way back up court to play defense, capturing all the excitement around him as he stayed stoic, just trying to get back on defense.

As time expired, Matt finally cracked a smile while being mobbed by his teammates.  This was one of the most memorable series of photos I have shot while with Arizona Athletics.