Topps has quickly turned one of the most dramatic moments of the 2026 NCAA Tournament into a collectible with the release of a Dylan Darling 2025-26 Bowman U NOW card. The on-demand card immortalizes the St. John’s guard’s game-winning layup that lifted the No. 5 Red Storm to a 67-65 victory over No. 4 Kansas and sent them to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999. The “Darling” of the tournament will also sign some of them that will wind up in the hands of Johnnies fans and collectors.
Darling, held scoreless (0-for-4) for nearly the entire game, delivered the decisive basket with 3.9 seconds remaining. After Kansas tied the score, he took the inbounds pass, drove past defender Elmarko Jackson, and laid the ball in as time expired—his only points of the night.
The win marked a historic breakthrough for St. John’s, a back-to-back Big East champion under Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, ending a 27-year Sweet 16 drought and igniting celebrations reminiscent of the program’s glory days.
The card’s front captures Darling in full celebration, arms raised amid the March Madness chaos, complete with the St. John’s “SJ” logo and tournament branding.
On the back, the text tells the full story: “St. John’s fans are partying like it’s 1999, thanks to Dylan Darling’s heroic layup to ice a 67-65 win over No. 4 Kansas. Darling’s lone bucket of the game couldn’t have come at a better time, sending the No. 5 Johnnies to their first Sweet 16 appearance in 27 years. ‘Yelling at me, per usual,’ Darling said on what coach Rick Pitino mentioned right before his clutch play.”
That humorous postgame quote added personality to the heroics. In the final huddle, Darling had confidently called for the “Power” ball-screen play for himself despite his cold shooting. When asked what the fiery Pitino—who calls Darling “Bells”—had said to him, the guard grinned and replied that the coach was simply “yelling at me, per usual.” Pitino later described the exchange as one of the funniest moments he’d experienced in a high-stakes timeout.
The Bowman University NOW release offers the base card for $11.99 individually, with discounts for quantity purchases. Every base card buyer has a chance at randomly inserted serial-numbered autograph redemptions signed by Darling. Non-autographed foil parallels, numbered to /50 and lower, are also being created.
True to the “NOW” model, the cards are produced on-demand and available only until Thursday afternoon via this link.
