NCAA Basketball: 5 biggest winners from 2019 NCAA Tournament

By Adam Childs | Apr 11, 2019

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: De'Andre Hunter #12 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrates his three point basket basket late in the second half against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

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HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MARCH 21: Ja Morant #12 and Darnell Cowart #32 of the Murray State Racers celebrate at the end of the first half during their first round game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Marquette Golden Eagles at XL Center on March 21, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

4. Ja Morant

Morant burst on to the scene this year with his highlight reel dunks and his ability to score. People talked about how did the big time schools miss out on such a great talent and how lucky Murray State was to have him. He helped lead the Racers to the Ohio Valley championship and a twelve seed in the NCAA tournament. They would earn a date with fifth-seeded Marquette and their star Markus Howard.

In what was billed as a showcase of two great talents it turned into the Ja Morant show. He would post a triple-double scoring 17 points, dishing out 16 assists and grabbing 11 rebounds. It was only the ninth triple-double in NCAA history and first since 2012. He was able to prove to every fan that he was exactly what he was billed to be and more.

Playing in the Ohio Valley Conference Morant does not get a lot of national games, but this was on one of the biggest stages and he produced. They would get blown out in the second round by Florida State, but it wasn’t because of a lack of production from Morant.

He would score 28 points including 5-6 from the outside. HIs team may have come up short, but he showed again that he was a top talent and NBA worthy. He just completed his sophomore year, but he may enter the draft and how he played in his two games in the tournament could help cement his case. He showed he could play with the little guys all year, but by playing well against Marquette and Florida State, he showed he could hang with the big boys also.

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