5 Kings Players Who Shined in March Madness

Doug McDermott is the only player on this list who has struggled to make a name for himself at the NBA level, but he was an absolute stud in college. Not only was McDermott the 2013-14 AP Player of the Year with the Creighton Bluejays, but he also found ways to elevate his game in March.

McDermott was never able to lead the Bluejays, who were coached by his dad, Greg, past the second round of the tournament. However, he did all he could in an attempt to make a deep run.

McDermott took Creighton to the NCAA tournament in three consecutive seasons, and through six total games, he averaged 21.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. McDermott erupted for 20+ points in four of his six tournament appearances, including one 30-point outing, and recorded three double-doubles. Even though he never had a Sweet 16 appearance, McDermott was consistently incredible in March Madness.

Russell Westbrook, UCLA

Unlike McDermott, Russell Westbrook's success in the NCAA tournament is much more centered around what his team was able to accomplish. In two seasons with the UCLA Bruins, Westbrook made back-to-back Final Four appearances. While they lost in the national semifinals both times, Westbrook has plenty of history with deep March Madness runs.

In his freshman season, Westbrook barely played for UCLA, but he took his game to the next level as a sophomore. In their 2008 Final Four run, Westbrook averaged 13.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.0 steals through five games. In their Final Four loss to Derrick Rose's Memphis Tigers, Westbrook led the Bruins with 22 points, but it was not enough for a trip to the championship.

Malik Monk, Kentucky

Malik Monk is the only one-and-done player on this list, so the 2016-17 SEC Player of the Year had just one tournament run to prove himself. Monk, along with former Kings star De'Aaron Fox, led the Kentucky Wildcats to an Elite Eight appearance in 2017.

Through four NCAA tournament appearances, Monk averaged 14.8 points per game, but his shooting numbers took a dip when it mattered most. While Monk could have had a much more memorable college career with a more dominant tournament run, he was still very impressive in March.

Domantas Sabonis, Gonzaga

Domantas Sabonis likely had the most underrated college career of any player on this list, as many fans forget how dominant he was with the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Sabonis and Gonzaga made an Elite Eight trip in his freshman season before he was knocked out in the Sweet 16 as a sophomore, but he put together some incredible tournament performances.

As a freshman, Sabonis was pretty solid in four tournament games, averaging 11.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, though, Sabonis' run was historic. He averaged 19.7 points, 14.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.7 blocks through three games, posting a double-double in each tournament game.

Sabonis did everything he could as a sophomore to make a run with Gonzaga, but despite these incredible numbers, they fell just short of anything special.

De'Andre Hunter, Virginia

As the only NCAA champion on this list, De'Andre Hunter deserves his flowers. While the Virginia Cavaliers are often remembered for losing to 16-seed UMBC in the first round in 2018 because Hunter was injured, they bounced back to win it all the very next year.

In their incredible 2019 championship run, Hunter averaged 15.8 points and 5.3 rebounds through six games. Not only that, but he stepped up when it mattered most. In their overtime championship win over Texas Tech, Hunter had his best game of the tournament, dropping 27 points and nine rebounds to lead Virginia to a title.