Hello again! Players return to March Madness, this time playing for new teams

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One year after Terrence Edwards and Chucky Hepburn played against each other in the NCAA Tournament, they are experiencing March Madness again as teammates at an entirely different school.

This is college basketball in the era of the transfer portal.

Edwards scored a team-high 14 points last year to help a 12th-seeded James Madison team upset Hepburn’s Wisconsin squad 72-61 in the first round. Both players left their respective schools in the offseason for Louisville, where new coach Pat Kelsey was overhauling the roster after a dreadful season in which the Cardinals went 8-24.

They are now the two leading scorers for a Louisville team that earned the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019. The Cardinals (27-7) face Creighton (24-10) in Lexington, Kentucky.

Edwards, a 6-foot-6 swingman, was the Sun Belt Conference player of the year at James Madison last season. He followed up his 14-point performance against Wisconsin by scoring 13 points in a second-round loss to Duke. He has averaged 16.6 points, 4.1 rebound and 2.6 assists for Louisville this season.

Hepburn, a three-year starter at Wisconsin, was an Associated Press All-ACC first-team selection this season. The 6-2 senior guard has 16.2 points, 5.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game.

Edwards and Hepburn will try to carry over what they learned from their previous March Madness experiences at their former schools. Edwards said the stakes involved lead to more physical play.

“You’ve got seniors out there like me that’s going to leave it all on the line, both ways — our team, their team,” Edwards said. “Guys don’t want their college career to end because it’s so fun playing in an atmosphere like this. Everyone is going to leave it on the line, and anything can happen in March.”

There are plenty of other players in this year’s NCAA Tournament who were here last year as well, only with different schools:

JaKobe Coles, F, Grand Canyon…

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Source link : https://www.nbcsports.com/mens-college-basketball/news/hello-again-players-return-to-march-madness-this-time-playing-for-new-teams

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Publish date : 2025-03-19 15:51:00

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