As the NCAA men's basketball tournament's first full day of action kicks off, how about a "Throwback Thursday" memory -- made 26 years ago today -- that ties together basketball and baseball?

On March 19, 1981, Danny Ainge provided one of the most memorable moments in NCAA tournament history, driving the length of the court to score a layup with two seconds remaining and give BYU a upset win over seventh-ranked Notre Dame in the East Region semifinals. It was one of those iconic plays of the tournament in the early '80s that helped it grow in popularity.

Ainge wasn't a typical college basketball player. He already had played parts of two seasons in the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays, and after BYU lost in the regional final two days later to Ralph Sampson and Virginia, he flew directly to Florida to join the Blue Jays for the rest of spring training. While we know Ainge eventually had a fruitful, 14-year NBA career that featured an All-Star appearance and two NBA titles with the Boston Celtics, in spring 1981, it wasn't so obvious that his future was in basketball.

Before the Notre Dame game, Celtics president and general manager Red Auerbach told John Feinstein of the Washington Post: "How can the kid play baseball? He's in the wrong sport. He can make a million dollars playing basketball and he's going to play baseball. What a waste. What a waste . . . "

Ainge had recently signed a three-year contract with the Blue Jays, reportedly worth more than $500,000, at a time when the major league minimum salary was $32,500. Not bad for an infielder who had hit .239 with two home runs with the Blue Jays in 125 games during the 1979 and '80 seasons, both of which ended in early September when Ainge returned to classes at BYU.

Feinstein wrote:

"He's their Pete Rose," said Notre Dame Coach Digger Phelps, getting in a baseball-related dig along with the compliment. "He's the guy who makes them go because he can do so many things. He can bomb you from outside, he can post up, he can play transition. He's just a great, great basketball player."

Great enough that he would be a guaranteed first-round pick in the NBA draft this June. Except that Ainge isn't interested in an NBA career. He wanted to be a baseball player.

"I love both sports," Ainge said. "For a long time, the thing I've wanted to do most in my life is play professional baseball. I like the way we travel, as opposed to the NBA where it's a different city each night."

So Ainge left for spring training, intent on playing baseball. With basketball in the background, the Jays had rushed Ainge to the majors. They drafted him in the 15th round out of high school in 1977 and he began his professional career in 1978 at Triple-A Syracuse, hitting a meager .229/.263/.290. Nonetheless, he spent most of 1979 in the majors as a 20-year-old second baseman on a team that lost 109 games. In other words, a team that didn't have much lose.

While he spent most of 1980 at Triple-A, Ainge's rising potential in basketball led to the three-year contract from Toronto, which gave him a bonus for agreeing not to play in the NBA in the fall. Blue Jays general manager Pat Gillick called him "the next Brooks Robinson."

After losing the Virginia game, Ainge told the New York Times: "As soon as I get the opportunity to dedicate myself to baseball, I think I'll do better. I've never had any spring training before. I probably could get more money at first in basketball, but I feel I'll sign a big contract eventually in baseball. I'm not worried about my baseball stats. I know I'll improve. In baseball, I'll have a longer career. And with experience, I'll be equal in baseball, if not better, than I am in basketball."

Enter Auerbach, who had stolen Larry Bird in the NBA draft a few years earlier as a draft-eligible junior (Bird would play his senior season at Indiana State but remain Celtics property). In June, the Celtics drafted Ainge in the second round.

Meanwhile, Ainge struggled with baseball. He spent the entire strike-shortened 1981 season in the majors, primarily playing third base, hitting .187 with no home runs in 246 at-bats. That Blue Jays team had one of the most anemic offenses of all time. They hit .226 and averaged 3.1 runs per game.

Maybe that helped open the door for Auerbach. The Celtics began talking with Ainge. The Blue Jays weren't happy.

In late August, the Blue Jays sued the Celtics, seeking an injunction to prevent the Celtics from negotiating with Ainge. The Celtics sued the Blue Jays, seeking a restraining order to prevent the Jays from interrupting contract talks. As the two sides battled, Ainge finished the year with Toronto. In late September, with a few days left in the season, Ainge declared: "I'm through with baseball."

A few days after that, a jury in U.S. District Court ruled in favor of the Blue Jays. The team, however, relented and allowed Ainge to arrange a deal with the Celtics, with Toronto asking for a buyout of his baseball contract. As if things couldn't get more exhausting, when negotiations with the Celtics stalled, the 76ers and Lakers reportedly offered the Blue Jays $1 million for Ainge's rights. The Celtics charged those clubs with tampering.

Ainge eventually agreed to a deal with Boston, saying: "I always wanted to be a Celtic."

While he certainly made the right choice, could Ainge have been a productive major leaguer? He was rushed to the majors with almost no minor league experience, didn't attend spring training and was only 22 when he gave up baseball. His numbers suggest that he couldn't hit, but given more time, maybe the bat would have improved.

Gillick never quite gave up on Ainge. A 1997 story in the Toronto Star detailed Gillick's last effort to get Ainge back into baseball. "I guess it was around 1990, when I was with Sacramento," Ainge told reporter Chris Young. "He knew I was frustrated with basketball. He wanted me as a utility defensive player for late innings, giving infielders or outfielders a blow, maybe playing every three or four days.

"That was a pretty good Toronto team. Had I not had four children and a wife who had been following me around my entire baseball and basketball career, it might have been different. I thought about it seriously, but I thought about my family situation and couldn't do it."

I'm not sure of the veracity of the story. In 1989, after Ainge had been traded from the Celtics to the Sacramento Kings, there were reports that he had called Gillick. Whatever happened, Ainge -- who retired from playing in 1995 -- stuck with basketball and has been the Celtics' director of basketball operations since 2003.

Asked earlier this year by a Utah radio station if any of his current Celtics players would know about his dual-sport career or his memorable play 26 year ago today, Ainge cracked: “None of them were born. I’m not even sure their mothers were born.”