Where are they now? March Madness names of the past

Blair led the Richmond Spiders in scoring (and hit some clutch free throws) the night the No. 15 seed upset No. 2 Syracuse in 1991. Blair was the CAA Player of the Year the following season and would be drafted by the Houston Rockets. After a career playing around the world, he became a referee for high school and college games. Since 2008, he has been a ref in the NBA. 

It was Lorenzo Charles who made the championship-winning play in 1983 for the Wolfpack, leaving coach Jim Valvano running around looking for someone to hug. He would play just one NBA season before embarking on a career in Europe and various minor American leagues before retiring in 2001. Charles passed away in 2011 when a bus he was driving crashed on I-40 near Raleigh, N.C. He is buried just 20 spaces away from his former North Carolina State head coach, Valvano. Charles was 47 years old.

Cleaves memorably led the "Flintstones" Spartans to the 2000 NCAA championship. His NBA career was more about his locker room presence than his play. After just 167 games, his NBA career was done. He was a studio analyst for the Pistons and CBS Sports before becoming a leadership coach at United Wholesale Mortgage.

Dixon was an All-American and Most Outstanding Player during Maryland's 2002 national championship season. He went on to an eight-year NBA career, most notably with the Wizards and Blazers. After a brief coaching stint with Maryland and in women's basketball, Dixon is currently the head coach of Coppin State where the Eagles have struggled in his six seasons at the helm. His wife Robyn, who he met in high school, is part of the cast of “Real Housewives of Potomac”.

Drew is most remembered for hitting "the shot" against Ole Miss in the 1998 NCAA Tournament, one of the most famous buzzer-beaters in tourney history. After a five-year stint replacing his father, Homer, as the head coach at Valparaiso, he went on to become the head basketball coach at Vanderbilt University for three years. He is currently the head coach at Grand Canyon University.

Edney's layup against Missouri in the second round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament vaulted UCLA to its last national championship. After a short NBA career, he became a popular player in Europe for a decade. Edney returned to Westwood as an assistant coach at UCLA until 2019. Now he is an assistant at San Diego under Steve Lavin, who was an assistant at UCLA on that '95 title team.

We all remember Farokhmanesh's shot that toppled No. 1 overall seed Kansas in 2010 as well as the big shot he hit against UNLV a round earlier. After a few years playing in Europe, he became director of player relations and development for Nebraska's basketball program. After taking an assistant coaching job at Drake, he is now an assistant coach at Colorado State.

Gonzaga's leap into one of the elite programs in college basketball began with their Cinderella run to the Elite 8 in 1999. Richie Frahm was the star of that team. After college, Frahm spent some time in the NBA, The Philippines, Turkey, Italy and Japan. Now Frahm has found a way to feed his competitive edge in cycling. 

It's impossible to forget Jimmer Fredette's scoring outbursts during the 2011 NCAA Tournament in which he helped lead BYU to the Sweet 16. That led to Fredette being selected No. 10 overall in the 2011 draft, but he hasn't been able to stick in the NBA. Fredette has had a nice international career and even earned league MVP honors in China after the 2017 season. Fredette played in the 2018 Basketball Tournament and is now trying to qualify for the 2024 Olympics in 3-on-3 basketball.

Tate George is best known for hitting a game-winning shot to beat Clemson in the 1990 Sweet 16. His NBA career was short, though he did have a decent CBA career. George served a nine-year sentence for wire fraud involving his real estate company in a Ponzi scheme in New Jersey. He also has had tax issues involving his pension from the NBA. He was released in 2021 and must pay $2.5M in restitution.

Hancock's huge 2013 Final Four made him the first bench player in NCAA Tournament history to win the Most Outstanding Player Award. After graduating from Louisville, Hancock suffered a leg injury while playing in Greece and decided to end his hoops career. He would go on to become a financial advisor and works with various charities for autism. He currently works for the ACC Network on many of its basketball studio shows. 

Kris Jenkins may have hit the biggest shot in NCAA championship history, a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat North Carolina in 2016. After graduating, Jenkins played a bit in the G League and in Germany before retiring in 2019. Today he is part of player development for his alma mater, Villanova. 

Who could forget Bo Kimble shooting free throws left handed to honor his teammate, Hank Gathers, who collapsed and died during the 1990 West Coast Conference tournament. Despite that tragedy, Kimble led the Lions to the Elite 8 where they would lose to eventual champion UNLV. Kimble was a lottery pick, but his Clippers career never blossomed. Since basketball, he founded a non-profit that honors Gathers by getting involved in awareness and causes of cardiac arrest.   

May won Most Outstanding Player honors when he led North Carolina to the 2005 NCAA championship over Illinois. After four uneventful NBA seasons, he bounced around Europe but didn't find much success. He is currently back at his alma mater, first as the director of basketball operations for the Tar Heels and now as an assistant head coach to Hubert Davis. 

O'Quinn scored 26 points and 14 boards in Norfolk State's stunning upset of No. 2 seed Missouri in 2012. He played eight seasons in the NBA with the Magic, Knicks, Pacers, and 76ers and has been playing in Turkey, France and Japan. As a member of the Knicks, he made regular appearances to bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs to socialize, shoot selfies and be the life of the party.

Pittsnogle gained national attention after leading the Mountaineers to a miracle run through the 2005 tournament. He went undrafted and spent a few years in the CBA and the D-League as well as on the semi-pro circuit. Pittsnogle has returned to his West Virginia hometown to become a car dealer and work as a special education teacher, a coach and an assistant principal.

Robinson helped lead the Wolverines to a national title in 1989 and played six seasons in the NBA. His life has taken a turn since. In 2010 Robinson was convicted on 11 counts of bank bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and other charges. He was trying to start a development business and got into some shady practices to secure funding. He was released from prison in 2016 after serving more than six years.

Shammgod vaulted into the hoops culture because of his game (that crossover!) as well as his name. He was a big part of the Friars' 1997 Elite Eight run. After a brief stint with the Wizards, he went on to a long career overseas, mainly in China. He has now found a career in coaching, first back at his alma mater and with the NBA's Mavericks.

Shammgod was featured in the documentary "NYC Point Gods."

Simon, the MOP of the 1997 Arizona Wildcats title team, played just five games in the NBA before playing a couple of seasons overseas. He got into coaching as an assistant for Lute Olson at Arizona and worked as an analyst for ESPN before taking on various roles for USA Basketball. Simon was an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers for five years and is now the head coach of the Lakers' G-League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. 

Smart is best known for hitting the game-winning shot to beat Syracuse in the 1987 NCAA championship game. After just 12 minutes of NBA action, Smart bounced around foreign and domestic leagues before getting into coaching. He was a head coach for the Cavaliers (interim), Warriors and Kings, compiling a 93-170 record. He was recently an assistant coach for the New York Knicks and is currently an assistant coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Sorrentine's huge three-pointer in overtime helped Vermont topple No. 4 Syracuse in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Sorrentine and Taylor Coppenrath ushered in the most successful run in Vermont hoops history. He bounced around Europe and the NBA D-League before settling into coaching. Currently, he is the associate head coach at Brown University.

Thurman's shot to close out the 1994 national championship is legendary among Arkansas fans ... and Duke haters. He spent a decade playing basketball overseas or in fledgling American leagues. In 2016, he would go back to his alma mater to become an assistant for the Razorbacks. He is currently the head coach at Little Rock Parkview High School in Arkansas.

The brash player with the unique look caught the nation's eye in 2016 when his Lumberjacks toppled West Virginia in the tournament and sent a scare into Notre Dame before falling by a point. Walkup dumped 33 points on West Virginia and showed the world how tough he was in the paint despite being just 6'4". After not catching on in the NBA, he is currently playing in Greece and the EuroLeague.

Ware is best known for suffering one of the most gruesome in-game injuries in memory. Against Duke in the 2013 NCAA tournament, Ware suffered a broken leg which was visible to everyone on the court and people in the stands. Louisville would go on to win the national championship. After redshirting the following year, Ware transferred to Georgia State and named the 2015 Sun Belt Conference tournament MVP. Georgia State would upset 3rd-seeded Baylor in the NCAA Tournament (the game where injured head coach Ron Hunter fell off his stool). As a professional, Ware has bounced around overseas, playing in the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Canada, England, Iraq and most recently, Argentina.

On a team filled with stars, it was Donald Williams' smooth shooting that helped North Carolina down the Fab Five for the 1993 NCAA championship. Williams finished off the rest of his Carolina career (which included a trip to the 1995 Final Four) before embarking on a career in Europe. Today, he is the women's basketball coach at Wakefield High School in Raleigh, NC.