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NCAA Basketball: 5 biggest winners from 2019 NCAA Tournament

By Adam Childs

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)
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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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 22: Aubrey Dawkins #15 of the UCF Knights dunks the ball against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams in the second half during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 22: Aubrey Dawkins #15 of the UCF Knights dunks the ball against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams in the second half during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

3. Aubrey Dawkins

Dawkins has had an up and down college career. He started at Michigan and for two seasons and was a pretty good role player for them. But after his dad Johnny Dawkins took the head job at UCF, he decided to transfer and play for him. He was supposed to be one of the top players for the Golden Knights but had a season-ending injury last year. This was supposed to be his redemption year and he made the most of it.

He played well all year averaging 15.6 points per game leading UCF to the NCAA tournament and by beating VCU in the first round their first ever tournament win. He played well in that game scoring 14 points to help the Golden Knight advance. This was a good game for him but was just the beginning.

His coming out party came against the vaunted Duke Blue Devils. Most people were talking about the matchup between Tacko Fall and Zion Williamson and great battle it would be. But while they were battling it out Dawkins was having a career game.

He would score 32 points on 12-18 shooting, including making five of seven three-point attempts. About everything went Dawkins way except for the last tip that would have won the game for UCF> After BJ Taylor missed a layup Dawkins timed the rebound just right for a tip and it rolled around the time and out. It was a heartbreaking loss for Dawkins and company but it showed what kind of player he was.

Dawkins went from a fringe NBA prospect to someone that had the next level buzzing. He could have come back for another year at UCF, but he is declaring for the draft and looking to use his impressive game against Duke as a launching pad for an NBA career.

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