Main characters of March Insanity 2025: Standouts from every round
One of the pleasures of March Madness is the chance for each player to shine. Whether they’re playing for a front runner or an underdog, each professional athlete has an equal shot at engraving their name into competition lore as they hammer out the bracket for a nationwide title.Editor’s Picks
1 Associated This year’s competitions may be light on Cinderella runs– 7 of the 8 Final 4 groups are No. 1 seeds, with Geno Auriemma’s UConn ladies’s group as the lone No. 2.
But that hasn’t stopped brand-new stars from emerging.From clutch plays to
captivating personalities, the roadway to the Last Four has been filled with players making their mark.Here’s a round-by-round look at the main characters of March Insanity. First Round Amir Khan: Supervisor, McNeese Cowboys Ben Solomon/NCAA Photos via Getty Images Affectionately called”Aura,” Khan went viral in February
after leading McNeese down locker space tunnels with a boombox in hand, rapping along to Lud Opponent’s “In & Out “– the group’s designated walkout song. His March minute grew larger when the 12-seed Cowboys upset No. 5 Clemson in the first round of the guys’s tournament.Before McNeese fell to Purdue in the second round, Khan kept acquiring traction, leading to him ending up being the first student-manager to sign an NIL offer, landing multiple.Deja Kelly: Oregon Ducks Jerome Ibrahim/NCAA Photos by means of Getty Images In spite of blowing a 19-point second-half lead, 10-seed Oregon outlasted 7-seed Vanderbilt in overtime to advance to the second round.North Carolina transfer Deja Kelly led the charge, ending up with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 3 helps and 3 steals. With simply under 3 minutes left in OT, she got a key defensive rebound and
dished to Nani Falatea for a go-ahead 3-pointer. Kelly’s clutch complimentary tosses likewise assisted seal the 77-73 win.Second Round C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos through Getty Images Derik Queen, Maryland Terrapins; John Calipari, Arkansas Razorbacks
With 6 seconds left, Colorado State guard Jalen Lake buried a rainbow 3 over Derik Queen to provide the 12-seed Rams the lead.Then, the 6-foot-10 freshman from Baltimore, Maryland, had a “March moment
“for the ages.Trailing 71-70 with 3.6 seconds staying, Queen banked in a buzzer-beating fadeaway to lift Maryland to a 72-71 win, sending the Terps to their very first Sugary food 16 considering that 2016. Ben Solomon/NCAA Photos by means of
Getty Images Calipari’s Razorbacks were the closest thing to a Cinderella group in the tournament this year. In his very first season as Arkansas ‘head coach, he handled to lead the 10-seed Hogs to thetournament.To make things even sweeter, he knocked off longtime rival Rick Pitino and No. 2-seeded St. John’s to reach his 16th Sugary food 16. Lauren Betts, UCLA Bruins; Aneesah Morrow, LSU Tigers Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Betts was almost unstoppable, scoring 31 points on 15-of-16 shooting
to power UCLA past Ole Miss and into its very first EliteEight because 2018. The 6-foot-7 center included 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in the win. Betts dominated early, scoring 16 of the Bruins ’30 first-half points– the second time this season she has actually accounted for more
than 50%of their scoring in a half. The Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year topped it off with a game-high plus-23 score. Gerald Herbert/AP Morrow, the nation’s top rebounder, notched her 30th double-double of the season with 30 points and 19 rebounds.She set the tone early with 10 points in the very first quarter, then took control of once again in the third, scoring 11 of LSU’s 21 points in the Tigers’win over
the NC State Wolfpack.Sweet 16 Gregory Shamus/Getty Images Milos Uzan, Houston Cougars; Cooper Flagg, Duke Blue Devils With 0.9 seconds left, Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson prepared the ideal inbounds play, and Uzan executed it flawlessly.Uzan tossed the ball to Joseph Tugler, who bounced it right back, allowing the 6-foot-4 guard to cut to the rim for an uncontested layup that offered the top-seeded Cougars a dramatic win over Purdue. Frank Franklin II/AP Flagg provided a commanding efficiency that consisted of a series of game-changing minutes; a deep 3-pointer prior to the halftime buzzer, a no-look assist for an alley-oop, another for a 3-pointer and a pivotal obstructed shot ina showing Duke head coach Jon Scheyer called among the best tournament efficiencies he has ever witnessed.He completed with 30 points, 7 helps, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in Duke’s win over Arizona.Paige Bueckers, UConn Huskies; MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina Gamecocks Jenny Kane/AP Bueckers scored a career-high
40 points, raising UConn out of a slow first half and turning a tight game against Oklahoma into an
82-59 blowout. She poured in 29 after the break, removing a 36-32 halftime deficitpractically solitarily. Bueckers also matched her profession high with six 3-pointers– 2 of them coming throughout an individual 10-0 run in the 4th quarter that sealed the win.
Carmen Mandato/Getty Images Sophomore guard MiLaysia Fulwiley scored a team-leading 23 indicate keep South Carolina’s national title defense alive.With the Gamecocks trailing 60-59 late, her layup stimulated a 7-0 run, and she followed it up with a consent container at the 2:22 mark to help lift South Carolina past Maryland.Elite 8:
Johni Broome, Auburn Tigers; Walter Clayton Jr. Florida Gators Grant Halverson/NCAA Photos by means of Getty Images Broome led Auburn with 25 points and 14 rebounds, shooting an efficient 10-of-13 from the field, draining pipes both of his
3-point attempts.He took a
hard fall on his best arm while trying to block a shot with 10:37 left but returned 5 minutes later to a loud ovation from Auburn fans.With his elbow covered, Broome drained a 3-pointer less than a minute after checking in and later on took down a
rebound with one hand, capping a gutsy performance. Godofredo A. VÃ ¡ squez/AP Clayton came through in the clutch, drilling two late 3-pointers to rally top-seeded Florida past Texas
Tech and into its very first Final 4 considering that 2014. With under a minute to go, Clayton dribbled out of traffic and buried a fadeaway 3 to offer the Gators a 78-77 lead.
“There’s not another player in
America you would rather have today than Walter Clayton with the ball in his hands in a big-time minute, “said head coach Todd Golden.Clayton, who started his college career with Iona, completed with a team-leading 30 points.Gabriela Jaquez, UCLA Young Kwak/AP With star center Lauren Betts investing the whole 2nd quarter on the bench and playing limited minutes overall, UCLA’s other stars stepped up in the win over LSU.Gabriela Jaquez led the charge, finishing witha team-high 18 points and 8 rebounds. Her clutch 3-pointer with 1:30 left sealed the Bruins’triumph over the team that knocked them out in 2015’s Sweet
16.