6 potential Cinderella stars who could bust your 2026 March Madness bracket, from Dominique Daniels Jr. to TJ Power

6 potential Cinderella stars who could bust your 2026 March Madness bracket, from Dominique Daniels Jr. to TJ Power originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

In this new and rapidly evolving era of college sports, it might be harder than ever to be a true Cinderella in the NCAA Tournament. Many of the players who would ordinarily be some of the best mid-major talents in the country instead play for high-major schools, throwing off college basketball’s balance.

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On the flip side, talent at smaller schools can still come from just about anywhere. Some of the top mid-major players in the country started out at more prominent schools, while others began their careers outside of Division I entirely and have been overlooked their entire careers.

While short on upsets, 2025 proved that talent can still be found anywhere. Drake knocked off 6-seed Missouri with a core that was just playing at the Division II level a year earlier. There are some tremendous players outside of the schools with the most resources, and some have the potential to become brand names this March.

Here are the biggest potential Cinderella stars who could bust your 2026 March Madness bracket.

MARCH MADNESS HQ: Live NCAA bracket | Full TV schedule | Printable bracket

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6 potential Cinderella stars in 2026 March Madness bracket

Dominique Daniels Jr., Cal Baptist

Cal Baptist’s Dominique Daniels Jr. checks all of the boxes to be a potential March Madness star. He’s undersized at 5-10, puts up a ridiculous amount of shots and started his college career at the junior college level. All that’s left to do is at least give Kansas a scare.

Is Daniels efficient? Well, that depends. He shoots 44.4 percent from the floor, a significant improvement from last season, but he’s only 32.4 percent from 3-point range. Either way, he is going to shoot. Daniels has attempted at least 20 shots in 13 of his last 24 games, 11 of which were…

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Publish date : 2026-03-16 17:40:00

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