March Madness: 10 key freshmen in 2019 NCAA Tournament

The NCAA Tournament kicks off on Thursday afternoon. Here we take a look at some of the top freshmen to keep an eye on when play kicks off.

The NCAA Tournament is upon us and as always, there’s a new batch of freshmen ready to take center stage. The North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils lead the way as No. 1 seeds with their young crop of talent. Granted, the Tar Heels have two seniors in Cam Johnson and Luke Maye but all eyes will be on their freshman floor general Coby White.

As for the Blue Devils, all eyes will be on Zion Williamson. In his return from injury, he reminded the nation why he’s one of the most exciting players in college basketball, leading his team to the ACC Tournament crown.

They weren’t the only freshmen making waves, either. In the Pac-12, the Oregon Ducks had another freshman step up in conference play. In the mid-major ranks, the Utah State Aggies took home the MWC tournament crown.

The play of this year’s freshman has a lot of implications given the 2019 NBA Draft is upcoming in June. As some players look to raise their stock, look for a select few to put up some big numbers.

Given there are 10 spots, it’s worth including a list of honorable mentions, in no particular order:

R.J. Barrett, Duke Blue Devils

Keldon Johnson, Kentucky Wildcats

Nassir Little, North Carolina Tar Heels

Quentin Grimes, Kansas Jayhawks

Cam Reddish, Duke Blue Devils

Keyontae Johnson, Florida Gators

Those are just the beginning of a list of talented freshmen. Here’s a look at 10 key freshmen to watch in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

*Sports Illustrated Realtime Brackets is the first bracket game that lets college basketball fans switch their picks, in exchange for points, between and during live tournament games to keep their brackets alive all month long. Sign up now!