5 Mid-Major Players That Must Play In NCAA Tournament
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The NCAA Tournament can turn great mid-major players into legends. These five players have a chance to make that happen this year if their team makes it in March.
Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Nigel Williams-Goss and Frank Mason are just a couple of star players who will be playing in the NCAA Tournament this year. They’re all in the running for the Wooden Award this year and are widely considered potential AP All-Americans.
Their teams are also all ranked and millions of people will pick them to make the Final Four. While their legacies could always improve, it’s safe to say that they’ll each have a special place in their fan base’s hearts and be well-remembered around the nation for being the star player on one of the best teams in the nation.
Not every star player has that luxury, though. For many players in mid-major conferences, the NCAA Tournament is where their stardom will be born.
Stephen Curry led Davidson to the Elite Eight in 2008, Steve Nash anchored Santa Clara in their upset win over Maryland in 1996 and Valparaiso’s Bryce Drew made one of the most iconic buzzer beating threes in the 1998 NCAA Tournament to upset Ole Miss.
Curry and Nash have gone on to have Hall of Fame careers in the NBA while Bryce Drew is an up-and-coming coach with Vanderbilt. Each would have also been remembered well by their respective fan base even without their historic wins. That being said, it cemented them in college basketball history and made people around the nation remember them forever.
Here are five players who have a chance to do the same this year if their team makes the NCAA Tournament.
Tacko Fall, Central Florida
At 14-6, Central Florida will need a great run to end the season to make the NCAA Tournament or will have to win the American Conference tournament to earn an automatic bid. Tacko Fall is only a sophomore so there are still two more years to see him play in March, but the more times the better.
It’s hard not to be intrigued by Fall. He’s not the most skilled player, didn’t play AAU ball and didn’t even pick up basketball until he was a teenager, but he’s seven feet, six inches tall.
From opponents not even attempting to jump on jump balls to Fall barely needing to leave the ground for an alley-oop dunk, watching a player his size play is mesmerizing. Plus, he’s made huge strides as a sophomore.
This season in 27 minutes per game, Fall is averaging 13.1 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game on 78.2 percent shooting. He is one of just 23 players in the nation to average a double-double this season.
Most people know Tacko Fall as “the super tall guy on Central Florida.” That was a fair assessment of his play last season, but he’s become one of the best centers in the nation this season, and it’s not just because of his size. He’s continuing to learn the game and his fundamentals have followed.
Whether this year or in the future, the NCAA Tournament seems like the perfect place for Fall to have a breakout game and dunk over an entire team.
Alec Peters, Valparaiso
Most mid-majors have to win their conference tournament to earn an automatic bid, but Valparaiso is a bubble team even if they don’t win the Horizon League’s conference tournament. At 16-4 with wins over Alabama and ranked Rhode Island, Alec Peters and Valparaiso are a legitimate threat to make the Tournament over a Power-6 school.
Despite playing in the Horizon League, Peters is on the Wooden Award midseason watch list. His averages of 24.2 points, second in the nation, and 10.9 rebounds, eighth in the nation, have garnered him even more national attention than last season.
Peters is a potential first round pick in this year’s NBA Draft, too. Just like R.J. Hunter did a couple of years ago, Alec Peters has a chance to significantly boost his draft stock with a big game or two.
He’s already shown that he can play well against top teams in the nation, which is important considering the Crusaders won’t have a cakewalk in the first round of the Tournament. Against three ranked opponents this season, Peters averages 24.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game on 45.5 percent shooting.
Alec Peters led Valparaiso with 18 points in their 65-62 loss to Maryland two years ago, but his improvement since, especially as a scorer, is uncanny. He’s arguably the best scorer in the nation and has the supporting cast to make Valparaiso a Cinderella story this season.
Marcus Keene, Central Michigan
This might be the only time anyone says they want Central Michigan in the NCAA Tournament, but Marcus Keene makes it worth it. The nation’s leading scorer, 5’11” point guard Marcus Keene, has transformed from an average shooting guard with Youngstown State to one of the most prolific scorers in the nation at 29.8 points per game.
Keene’s shot selection can be described as spastic at times, but that’s the kind of player who can thrive in the NCAA Tournament on an underdog team. Central Michigan, 13-7 on the year, would need to win their conference tournament and still would face a top 10 caliber team in the first round, so they’d need Keene to play fearless.
Despite being 5’11” and playing in the Mid-American Conference, it’s evident that Keene is not scared of the spotlight and willing to take as many shots as his team needs him to.
His 411 field goal attempts this season is second in the nation and he averages 20.6 per game. Sure, sometimes it can lead to an unproductive game, but other times it leads to Keene recording the first 50-point game in college basketball since 2013.
His couple of appearances on SportsCenter and 50-point game against Miami (OH) has him on the national spotlight a little but playing on Central Michigan doesn’t help. As crazy as it sounds for a player with three games of at least 40 points and a 50-point outburst, Keene still is waiting for his breakout game.
Dallas Moore, North Florida
The bad news is North Florida is 9-14. The good news is North Florida is tied for second in the A-Sun Conference at 4-2 and has a shot of dethroning heavy favorite Florida Gulf Coast in the conference tournament.
As fun as Florida Gulf Coast’s dunks and alley-oops were in 2013, Dallas Moore is one of the best players in the nation, yet continues to fly under the radar. Moore, the reigning A-Sun Player of the Year, is third in the nation in scoring at 24.0 per game but has increased his production to a ridiculous 28.3 per game during conference play.
His assists numbers are down from last season because no one else averages more than 10 points per game this season, but Moore is threatening to have a 50/40/90 shooting season with percentages of .493/.409/.856.
It’s telling of how efficient he has been despite taking 3.2 more shots per game this season. Moore also leads the nation in offensive win shares.
With another A-Sun Player of the Year award inevitability waiting for him, Moore could be a second round steal in a draft that features plenty of elite point guard prospects. He’s as good and well-rounded as any scorer in the nation, and a big game on a national stage could help his draft stock.
Besides, a lot of people have never seen Moore play besides a faint memory of him scoring 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting as a sophomore in a play-in game against Robert Morris in 2015. Although even then, North Florida’s star player was Beau Beech.
Devontae Cacok, UNC-Wilmington
UNC-Wilmington is 20-2, 9-0 in the Colonial Athletic Conference, and has started receiving votes to be ranked. Plus, UNC-Wilmington is 31st in RPI and 49th in BPI, according to ESPN, so there is a good chance the Seahawks make the NCAA Tournament even without winning their conference.
Either way, Devontae Cacok is the best kept secret in college basketball. After only playing 9.1 minutes per game as a freshman in 2015-16, Cacok is averaging a double-double this year with 12.9 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 80.3 percent from the field. Plus, he averages 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per contest.
Cacok is one four players in the nation to average a double-double with at least one steal and block per game this season.
At 6’7″ and 210 pounds, Cacok is a perfect example of a power forward overlooked in the recruiting process because of his size. Still, he’s used his athleticism and post game to become one of the best players in the nation.
In fact, in conference play, Cacok is averaging an insane 12.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. He’s a stat stuffer but also has the leaping ability to throw down huge dunks, which are always big highlights in the Tournament.
With how good UNC-Wilmington is, Devontae Cacok could be in line for a breakout Tournament if the Seahawks can string together a couple of wins.
Along with how good they are, UNC-Wilmington will be able to build on last year’s 93-85 loss to Duke in the first round — Cacok only played seven minutes and fouled out.
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