John Bol was making March Madness headlines on Friday for all the wrong reasons.
The UCF center committed an embarrassing blunder during his team’s NCAA Tournament first-round contest against UCLA at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pa. Bol’s moment to forget happened after Bruins senior Donovan Dent launched a desperation three-pointer with the shot clock winding down late in the first half.
Dent’s shot bounced off the rim and right into the hands of a leaping Bol. But the Knights center let the rebound slip through his fingertips and right back into the rim. The shot was not credited to any UCLA player, but did increase the team’s lead to 35-21.
John Bol gets the putback!!!*
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 21, 2026
*on his own basket pic.twitter.com/gLgf6KS5Sr
Bol also got clowned for his peculiar free-throw shooting form. The 7’2″ center debuted his corkscrew shot on the NCAA Tournament stage and ended up going 0/5 from the foul line.
I'll call this: The Corkscrew as John Bol uses a clockwise motion to release the ball pic.twitter.com/e5fQ84C43T
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) March 21, 2026
Bol finished with 2 points on a 1/3 shooting clip, tragically accounting for just as many points for the other team. The own goal proves huge down the stretch as UCLA beat UCF by just 4 points in a 75-71 affair.
Friday’s UCLA-UCF game was unusual to say the least. Bruins senior guard Skyy Clark also became a trending topic after he lost a tooth during the contest.
