WILSON - Sitting in his fiancee's dorm room, remote control in hand, Anthony Atkinson balanced on the edge of a well-worn easy chair as he rewound the final 39 seconds of Barton's Division II championship victory over Winona State. "Every time I watch it, I worry that something's going to change," the sleepy-eyed senior said Thursday as he watched the videotape of his game-ending 10-point flurry for perhaps the hundredth time. "That somehow we're going to lose, that it didn't really happen."

Until he checks his cell phone, where hundreds of congratulatory messages remind him of the 77-75 reality.

Until he walks across campus, where another handshake by another unknown alum brings back the comeback joy.

Until he goes to lunch at the cafeteria, where the food services manager brings over an infant so that "one day, he can say he met Anthony Atkinson."

"It's been a crazy week,'' said Atkinson, a soft-spoken, fleet-footed point guard from Wilson whose friends now call "Hometown Hero" and "Urban Legend." "An amazing week."

A life-changing week.

While local Division I powers North Carolina and Duke ended their postseason runs short of the Final Four, tiny Barton -- a school in the Eastern part of the state with only 950 full-time students -- became one of the most miraculous stories of March. Atkinson brought the Bulldogs back from a seven-point deficit, capping the victory with layup that just beat the final buzzer.

Five days later, Atkinson was still granting interviews, still getting dozens of new "friend" requests on his Internet page -- and still trying to put it all into perspective.

So far, he and his parents have been driven by limousine to Raleigh for a Monday appearance on ESPN's "Cold Pizza." Sports Illustrated has called. At least one NBA scout has phoned his coach, and agents are contacting him -- fueling his professional dreams.

There's a possible team invitation to the White House in the works and hope that he might be on Montel or Letterman.

There's even talk around campus that the story should be made into a movie.

But if not for the videotape, athletics director Gary Hall said, "Disney would have had to edit out some parts, because you just wouldn't believe it."

It's not just that Atkinson capped his 10 straight points beating the buzzer -- speeding from beyond half-court, making the layup as the clock wound down and the sprinting around the floor in goose-bump raising glee.

It's that he also made winners in the NCAA quarterfinals (when he buried a 30-foot 3-pointer in overtime against Grand Valley State) and semifinals (when he made a free throw with 1.5 seconds left in regulation against Cal State San Bernardino).

It's that he helped top a Winona State team that had beaten Barton in last year's tournament and had won a Division II-record 57 straight games.

It's that he's a 5-foot-9 1/2 little guy who transferred back home to Barton from Campbell in 2005 and met his fiancee, Veronica Johnson, in a theater class. During senior night this season, he proposed in front of the Barton crowd.

"People knew about Anthony before," said Alton Britt, a long-time Wilson resident who did the radio play-by-play for last Saturday's game. "... Now, they'll never forget him."

Atkinson, 23, remembers giving up trips to Kings Dominion as a 7-year-old to practice basketball with his dad, a coach and pastor, and play for the Wilson Boys and Girls Club. "Our first drills were always five left-handed layups and five right-handed layups,'' Atkinson said.

Kind of like the one that won the game last Saturday.

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