One of the joys of March Madness is the chance for every player to shine. Whether they’re playing for a top seed or an underdog, each athlete has an equal shot at etching their name into tournament lore as they fight through the bracket for a national title.
This year’s tournaments might be light on Cinderella runs — seven of the eight Final Four teams are No. 1 seeds, with Geno Auriemma’s UConn women’s team as the lone No. 2.
But that hasn’t stopped new stars from emerging.
From clutch plays to captivating personalities, the road to the Final Four has been filled with players making their mark.
Here’s a round-by-round look at the main characters of March Madness.
First Round
Amir Khan: Manager, McNeese Cowboys
Affectionately known as “Aura,” Khan went viral in February after leading McNeese down locker room tunnels with a boombox in hand, rapping along to Lud Foe’s “In & Out” — the team’s designated walkout song. His March moment grew bigger when the 12-seed Cowboys upset No. 5 Clemson in the first round of the men’s tournament.
Before McNeese fell to Purdue in the second round, Khan kept gaining traction, leading to him becoming the first student-manager to sign an NIL deal, landing multiple.
Deja Kelly: Oregon Ducks
Despite 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, finishing with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. With just under three minutes left in OT, she grabbed a key defensive rebound and dished to Nani Falatea for a go-ahead 3-pointer. Kelly’s clutch free throws also helped seal the 77-73 win.
Second Round
Derik Queen, Maryland Terrapins; John Calipari, Arkansas Razorbacks
With six seconds left, Colorado State guard Jalen Lake buried a rainbow 3 over Derik Queen to give 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 remaining, Queen banked in a buzzer-beating fadeaway to lift Maryland to a 72-71 win, sending the Terps to their first Sweet 16 since 2016.
Calipari’s Razorbacks were the closest thing to a Cinderella team in the tournament this year. In his first season as Arkansas’ head coach, he managed to lead the 10-seed Hogs to the tournament.
To make things even sweeter, he knocked off longtime rival Rick Pitino and No. 2-seeded St. John’s to reach his 16th Sweet 16.
Lauren Betts, UCLA Bruins; Aneesah Morrow, LSU Tigers
Betts was nearly unstoppable, scoring 31 points on 15-of-16 shooting to power UCLA past Ole Miss and into its first Elite Eight since 2018.
The 6-foot-7 center added 10 rebounds and three blocks in the win. Betts dominated early, scoring 16 of the Bruins’ 30 first-half points — the second time this season she has accounted for more than 50% of their scoring in a half. The Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year capped it off with a game-high plus-23 rating.
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 first quarter, then took over again in the third, scoring 11 of LSU’s 21 points in the Tigers’ win over the NC State Wolfpack.
Sweet 16
Milos Uzan, Houston Cougars; Cooper Flagg, Duke Blue Devils
With 0.9 seconds left, Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson drew up the perfect 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 gave the top-seeded Cougars a dramatic win over Purdue.
Flagg delivered a commanding performance that included a series of game-changing moments; a deep 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer, a no-look assist for an alley-oop, another for a 3-pointer and a pivotal blocked shot in a showing Duke head coach Jon Scheyer called one of the best tournament performances he has ever witnessed.
He finished with 30 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in Duke’s win over Arizona.
Paige Bueckers, UConn Huskies; MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina Gamecocks
Bueckers scored a career-high 40 points, lifting UConn out of a sluggish first half and turning a tight game against Oklahoma into an 82-59 blowout. She poured in 29 after the break, erasing a 36-32 halftime deficit almost single-handedly.
Bueckers also matched her career high with six 3-pointers — two of them coming during a personal 10-0 run in the fourth quarter that sealed the win.
Sophomore guard MiLaysia Fulwiley scored a team-leading 23 points to keep South Carolina’s national title defense alive.
With the Gamecocks trailing 60-59 late, her layup sparked a 7-0 run, and she followed it up with a go-ahead bucket at the 2:22 mark to help lift South Carolina past Maryland.
Elite Eight:
Johni Broome, Auburn Tigers; Walter Clayton Jr. Florida Gators
Broome led Auburn with 25 points and 14 rebounds, shooting an efficient 10-of-13 from the field, draining both of his 3-point attempts.
He took a hard fall on his right arm while trying to block a shot with 10:37 left but returned five minutes later to a loud ovation from Auburn fans.
With his elbow wrapped, Broome drained a 3-pointer less than a minute after checking in and later pulled down a rebound with one hand, capping a gutsy performance.
Clayton came through in the clutch, drilling two late 3-pointers to rally top-seeded Florida past Texas Tech and into its first Final Four since 2014. With under a minute to go, Clayton dribbled out of traffic and buried a fadeaway 3 to give the Gators a 78-77 lead.
“There’s not another player in America you would rather have right now than Walter Clayton with the ball in his hands in a big-time moment,” said head coach Todd Golden.
Clayton, who began his college career with Iona, finished with a team-leading 30 points.
Gabriela Jaquez, UCLA
With star center Lauren Betts spending the entire second 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 with a team-high 18 points and eight rebounds. Her clutch 3-pointer with 1:30 left sealed the Bruins’ victory over the team that knocked them out in last year’s Sweet 16.
