What is the true beauty of March Madness?
It's the names and schools you'll remember forever. Every year that happens. In the 2023 men's basketball tournament, however, that happened a little more in a wide open tournament that sent No. 4 UConn, No. 5 San Diego State, No. 5 Miami and No. 9 FAU to the Final Four. About one in every 600,000 nailed it, according to NCAA.com.
It goes beyond the Final Four teams. There were players, teams and coaches who improved their stock both for the college and professional level. There also were some players, coaches and teams – and even conferences – that will face questions based on a poor tournament showing.
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Who saw their stock go up? Who saw their stock go down? Sporting News takes a closer look beyond the obvious 'stock ups' of the four still playing in Houston:
Stock up
Markquis Nowell
No player improved their NBA Draft standing more than Nowell in the last two weeks.
Nowell – a 5-foot-8 point guard from New York City – put on a show at Madison Square Garden. He had a tournament record 19 assists for No. 3 Kansas State in a 98-93 victory against No. 7 Michigan State on Thursday. Nowell mixed brilliance with flashiness and that point-guard grit that was reminiscent of St. Joe’s Jameer Nelson in 2004. Nelson, however, was a 6-foot guard.
Nowell averaged 23.5 points and 13.5 assists in that four-game stretch, which included victories against No. 6 Kentucky and Michigan State. A player has scored 25+ points with at least 10 assists and five steals three times in the history of the NCAA tournament. Nowell did it twice.
MORE: Nowell becomes King of New York in K-State's thrilling win
Jaime Jaquez Jr.
UCLA didn’t make the Final Four, but Jaquez proved he’s one of the silkiest players in college basketball.
Jaquez averaged 23.3 points in the tournament, and he scored 29 points in a 79-76 loss to No. 3 Gonzaga in what was arguably the best game of the tournament. Jaquez - a 6-foot-7 guard – also averaged nine rebounds in the tournament. He has a nice all-around game that will give him a chance at the next level. He has not made an NBA Draft declaration at this point.
Tosan Evbuomwan
Princeton made an incredible Sweet 16 run from the No. 15 seed, which allowed schools to get a look at Evbuomwan – a 6-foot-8 forward from England – who averaged 16 points, 7.3 rebounds and six assists in the tournament. He is an all-around talent, and a rule that prevents Ivy League schools from using fifth-year seniors means Evbuomwan will hit the transfer portal. That will be a huge get for a team looking to make a run in 2023.
Big East
The Big East sent three teams to the Sweet 16, two teams to the Elite Eight and now has the favorite for the national championship in UConn. Creighton had an impressive run that ended with a tough call at the end of the 57-56 loss to San Diego State. If 7-foot center Ryan Kalkbrenner returns, the Blue Jays could be back in the mix. Xavier also advanced to the Sweet 16 despite losing the loss of leading scorer Zach Freemantle in January.
Sean Miller proved the Musketeers can be a tournament regular again. St. John's hired Rick Pitino – one of two active coaches with multiple national championships – on March 20. If the Huskies win the national title, then that would be the conference's sixth national title in the 21st century. The only conference with more in that stretch is the ACC with eight.
Rodney Terry
Terry – Sporting News Coach of the Year – wasn’t even the head coach to start the season. Chris Beard was arrested for a domestic family violence charge on Dec. 12, 2022, suspended and later fired on Jan. 5. Terry went over and led the Longhorns to a 22-8 record for the remainder of the season.
That included victories against No. 1 Kansas in the regular season and the Big 12 tournament championship. The Longhorns were the only No. 2 seed to make the Elite Eight, and they did not have forward Dylan Disu in the second weekend. Disu averaged 22 points and 10.5 rebounds in the first rounds of the tournament. The Longhorns blew a 13-point lead in the second half of an 88-81 loss to No. 5 Miami, but Terry made his case (and then some) to be Texas’ head coach on a permanent basis.
“I’m gonna love them for the rest of their lives.” 🥺
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 27, 2023
Rodney Terry gets emotional reflecting on how much this @TexasMBB team means to him ❤️ #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/0e3XkCYrkp
Wide-open tournaments
Is it NIL? Is it the transfer portal? Is it one-and-done? Who cares? This tournament – which does not have a No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the Final Four – was fun. Fairleigh Dickinson became the second No. 16 seed to win in the first round, and they looked good doing it. Furman's JP Pegues hit the shot of the tournament in the 68-67 victory against No. 4 Virginia, and Kevin Harlan produced the call of the tournament.
“DID WE JUST SEE WHAT WE THINK WE JUST SAW?!”
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 20, 2023
Kevin Harlan nearly FELL OUT OF HIS CHAIR. Dan Bonner and @realStanVG were STUNNED.
The crew's reaction to Furman's dramatic win over Virginia was incredible. pic.twitter.com/Jym88PALq8
Is that bad for the sport? That's a subjective viewpoint with an even more complicated answer if the ratings tank in the new-aged Cinderella Final Four in Houston. Nobody ever said March Madness is the NBA in terms of game play or quality, so stop comparing the two. Once you accept that and have fun, then tournaments like this will always be entertaining.
Stock down
Brandon Miller
Miller, a SN first-team All-American, finished 8 of 41 from the floor in three NCAA tournament games – a poor three-game performance where he averaged just 9.3 points per game. Miller, a projected NBA lottery pick, finished 3 of 19 in the 71-64 loss to San Diego State in the Sweet 16.
Miller, of course, had been the center of intense scrutiny heading into the NCAA Tournament. Alabama forward Darius Miles and Michael Lynn Davis were charged in January with capital murder in the shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harris on Jan. 15. According to police testimony, Miles texted Miller asking him to bring the gun that he left in the backseat of Miller’s car. Alabama prosecutors have said Miller will not be charged, and Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats did not suspend Miller.
Miller is a projected top-three pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Will that poor tournament showing have any impact on his draft stock?
Bluebloods
North Carolina, UCLA, Duke, Kansas and Kentucky have combined for 110 Final Four appearances. The Bruins were the only school among that group that made the Sweet 16.
Yes, those bluebloods draw ratings, but other than Kansas – which did not have Bill Self on the sideline in the tournament – were any of those teams really good enough to make a run? The Tar Heels didn't make the tournament. The Blue Devils were limited to a season-low 52 points in a second-round loss to No. 4 Tennessee. Kentucky's roller coaster season ended with a 75-69 loss to Kansas State. Duke and Kentucky were a combined 10 of 42 (23.8%) from 3-point range in those losses.
Is the tournament better without the bluebloods? The only other tournament in the last 10 years that didn't have one of those teams was in 2019 – a Final Four that featured Virginia, Texas Tech, Auburn and Michigan State. Viewership for those games was higher than expected, however. The Final Four can survive without the bluebloods this year.
Big Ten
The Big Ten sent eight teams to the NCAA Tournament, and No. 7 Michigan State was the only team to advance to the Sweet 16. No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson upset No. 1 Purdue 63-58 in stunning fashion, and No. 4 Indiana was knocked out in the second round by Miami in a 85-69 blowout.
BENDER: Purdue deals with shock of suffering historic upset
Spartans coach Tom Izzo praised the conference's strength after the loss to Kansas State, but the fact remains the conference has sent 26 teams to the tournament in the last three seasons and only one team has made the Elite Eight. That leads to questions about style and recruiting, and they are valid moving forward in the NIL and transfer portal era.
Does the conference-wide national championship drought that extends back to 2000 matter? The glass half-full approach would say seven national title appearances by six different schools since 2000 suggests the conference is fine, especially with UCLA and USC on the way.. But since when does a major conference settle for second place?
Tony Bennett
The Cavaliers are lucky Purdue lost to Fairleigh Dickinson. It took some of the attention off the inexcusable loss against Furman, which opened the door to attack Virginia's style of play on both sides under Bennett.
The Cavaliers did win the national championship in 2019 and had a 23-7 record in 2020 when the tournament was canceled because of COVID-19. The other years around those two years include a loss to a No. 16 UMBC in 2019, No. 13 Ohio in 2021, an NIT appearance in 2022 and now a first-round loss to Furman. That is a hell of a variety pack.
In 14 seasons under Bennett, the Cavaliers have made the Sweet 16 or better three times. Is it fair for Virginia fans to ask for more?
Seeding mid-major champions
For those complaining about FAU and San Diego State – teams that dominated their conferences in the regular season – maybe give them a proper seed next time?
The Aztecs were 26-6 and had a Net ranking of No. 14 on Selection Sunday. San Diego State was in a four-bid league and was matched up with No. 12 Charleston – who finished 30-3 in the regular season and also should have been seeded higher.
FAU had a 31-3 record and a Net ranking of No. 13 on Selection Sunday. Its reward was a 8-9 matchup with No. 8 Memphis, and it took a Nick Boyd layup with 5.5 seconds remaining to deliver a 66-65 victory. The Owls should have been at least a No. 6 or No. 5 seed based on that record.
Hindsight is 20/20, but it's OK for the selection committee to break these predictable seeding patterns, especially with proven mid-majors with high winning percentages. Or they could have just trusted those Net Rankings when it comes to teams outside the power conferences.
