NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates
Though the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is designed to produce a national champion, it’s just as effective at creating stars.
The stakes and pressure of a single-elimination tournament can turn once-anonymous figures who spent much of their careers toiling in obscurity into celebrities in an instant, with the fame from their one shining moment staying with them long after they’ve finished playing.
Advertisement
It’s not always players who are immortalized, either. There are coaches, of course, but also unsuspecting fans, student managers and even team chaplains.
REQUIRED READING: March Madness bracketology: Latest NCAA tournament bubble predictions
The 2026 NCAA Tournament will tip off in just over a week, with 68 teams from across the country vying for a national championship — or, if not that, the chance to be remembered forever in the sport. Over three weeks of games, buzzers will be beaten, Goliaths will be toppled and cult heroes will be born.
As we prepare for the madness of this March, here’s a look back at some of the biggest NCAA Tournament legends over the past 30 years and what they’re up to now:
Biggest March Madness icons
Ali Farokhmanesh
Back then: Drained one of the biggest “no, no, yes!” shots in NCAA Tournament history, sinking a 3-pointer early in the shot clock rather than bleeding out the clock with a one-point lead and 35 seconds remaining in Northern Iowa’s 69-67 second-round win against No. 1 overall seed Kansas in 2010.
Now: After spending 11 seasons as an assistant at Nebraska, Drake and Colorado State, the 37-year-old Farokhmanesh is in his first season as Colorado State’s head coach. The Rams are 20-10 heading into their regular-season finale on Saturday, March 7.
Advertisement
Kris Jenkins
Back then: Jenkins delivered the exclamation point for maybe the most thrilling end to a national championship game in NCAA Tournament history, burying a 3-pointer as time expired to deliver Villanova a 77-74 victory over North Carolina in 2016. It was the Wildcats’ first national title since 1985.
Now: After a brief professional career overseas and in the G League, Jenkins returned…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/where-march-madness-legends-today-120330083.html
Author :
Publish date : 2026-03-07 12:03:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
