2019 NCAA Tournament: Lesser known players who will turn into national stars
By Brian Rauf
THIS. IS. MARCH.
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) March 12, 2019
Drew McDonald hit the game-winner to keep @NKUNorseMBB's tournament hopes alive. pic.twitter.com/5q4JkLGYFu
Drew McDonald, Northern Kentucky
McDonald is easily the least-known player on this list of players who have flown below the radar nationally, as only people who have had a reason to pay attention to Northern Kentucky know who he is.
However, you probably saw that above shot at some point this week as it kept NKU’s NCAA Tournament hopes alive. Buzzer-beaters are what March is all about, and McDonald has the best one of the month so far.
The 6-8 senior is the also clear best player on the Norse, who has been the class of the Horizon League for the past three years. He leads them in points (19.1) and rebounds (9.5) per game and is a double-double machine, posting 13 of them on the year along with one triple-double.
His all-around game and ability to shoot the three makes him a tough matchup for opponents despite his limited athleticism. McDonald had 22 points and eight boards against UCF largely because of his ability to take opposing bigs away from the rim.
NKU has proven they can play with quality competition this year as they were very much in games against both the Knights and Cincinnati before suffering losses. Whether they win those games now will largely depend on how effective McDonald can be.