Press Break Mr. March Madness Round of 64, Glass Slipper Bracket

We are on the road to the crown of Mr. March Madness with Danny Manning the top seed of the Glass Slipper Bracket.

Mr. March Madness rolls into the 1st Round after the First Four helped pare the field down from 68 NCAA Tournament standouts to 64. Much like the Big Dance itself, Mr. March Madness moves from appetizer to main course with the complete competition now afoot.

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1. Danny Manning, Kansas vs. 16. Billy Donovan, Providence

Danny Manning’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 4 (1985-1988); 16 games played

• Furthest Run: 1988 National Champion

• Key Tournament Stats: 20.5 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game, 1.6 steals per game, 54.5% field-goal shooting (140-of-257)

• Postseason Accolades: 1988 Most Outstanding Player, 3x All-Regional (1986-1988)

Danny and The Miracles remain icons of March Madness nearly 40 years after their 1988 championship run, and with good reason.

The 1987-88 Jayhawks are renowned for emerging as a No. 6 seed, limping into the Tournament before going on a remarkable, six-game run that included wins over Big 8 rivals Kansas State and Oklahoma. Likewise, Danny Manning’s incredible stretch averaging 27.2 points and 9.3 rebounds culminated in arguably the single greatest Final Four of modern times: 25 points, 10 rebounds, six blocks and four steals in the semifinals vs. Duke, and 31 points, 18 rebounds, five steals and two blocks in the National Championship Game vs. Oklahoma.

Billy Donovan’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1 (1987); 5 games played

• Furthest Run: 1987 Final Four

• Key Tournament Stats: 22.8 points per game, 8.4 assists per game, 3 rebounds per game 2.4 steals per game, 63.7% 3-point shooting (14-of-22)

• Postseason Accolades: 1987 All-Regional Team

Billy Donovan played in only one NCAA Tournament, but the future national championship-winning coach made an impression with the first true March Madness. He topped Wally Szczerbiak in the First Four to advance, setting up this late ‘80s showdown.

Donovan embodied the qualities of a dynamic combo guard before the label gained ubiquity in the basketball lexicon. Providence rode his outstanding playmaking to the 1987 Final Four.

8. Jeff Sheppard, Kentucky vs. 9. Tyus Jones, Duke

Jeff Sheppard’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 4 (1994-1996, 1998 - injured in 1997); 17 games played

• Furthest Run: 1996 and 1998 National Champion

• Key Tournament Stats: 9.3 points per game, 3.1 rebounds per game, 2.6 assists per game

• Postseason Accolades: 1998 Most Outstanding Player

Jeff Sheppard’s overall body of NCAA Tournament work doesn’t add up to the impressive statistics many of the other Mr. March Madness contenders boast, though you can chalk it up to longevity impacting the numbers.

As the senior centerpiece of Kentucky’s 1998 title team, Sheppard was a star. He scored at least 16 points from the 2nd Round on, including dropping an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double in the Elite Eight vs. Duke and going for 27 points in the overtime, semifinal win against Stanford.

An unfortunate reward for Sheppard’s outstanding 1998 postseason was gracing the cover of the worst college basketball video game ever made.

Tyus Jones’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1 (2015); 6 games played

• Furthest Run: 2015 National Championship

• Key Tournament Stats: 13 points per game, 4.5 assists per game, 3.2 assists per game, 1.7 steals per game

• Postseason Accolades: 2015 Most Outstanding Player

While not quite the 21st Century Fab Five, Duke reached the 2015 Final Four with a roster constructed in large part around freshmen. Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow were the blue-chip stars of the 2014-15 Blue Devils, but in Indianapolis, it was Tyus Jones and Grayson Allen stepping up. In that sense, it foreshadowed the quartet’s moves to the NBA.

Allen’s heroics off the bench in the National Championship Game win over Wisconsin stole the spotlight, but Jones was excellent in the finale with 23 points and five rebounds to seal his Most Outstanding Player honors.

4. Steve Alford, Indiana vs. 13. Zach Edey, Purdue

Steve Alford’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 3 (1984, 1986, 1987); 10 games played

• Furthest Run: 1987 National Champion

• Key Tournament Stats: 21.7 points per game, 4.3 assists per game, 2.6 rebounds per game, 61.8% 3-point shooting (21-of-34)

• Postseason Accolades: 1987 All-Tournament, 2x All-Regional (1984, 1987)

The last of Indiana’s five total national championships and three under the direction of coach Bob Knight is best known for Keith Smart’s late-game jumper to sink Syracuse in 1987. And, to that end, Smart earned Most Outstanding Player for that NCAA Tournament.

However, it’s tough to argue that Steve Alford wasn’t truly the Most Outstanding Player of the 1987 Big Dance.

In the first year of the 3-pointer, Alford made effective use of it with seven triples en route to 31 points in a 2nd Round win over Auburn. Alford buried another seven in the National Championship Game defeat of Syracuse, one round removed from dropping 33 points on UNLV.

Zach Edey’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 4 (2021-2024); 10 games played

• Furthest Run: 2024¹ National Runner-Up

• Key Tournament Stats: 21.5 points per game, 12.6 rebounds per game, 2 blocks per game

• Postseason Accolades: 2024 All-Tournament Team

Ahead of Purdue’s appearance in the 2024 National Championship Game, I opined on the unfortunate March Madness history of Purdue basketball — with no moment more unfortunate than the 2023 Boilermakers’ loss to Fairleigh Dickinson in the 1st Round.

Zach Edey became the poster child for NCAA Tournament underachievement, bowing out to a No. 16 seed the same year he won the assorted National Player of the Year awards. That makes his 2024 run all the more impressive, as Edey went on one of the most memorable redemptive arcs in basketball history despite Purdue falling short against UConn.

5. Shabazz Napier, UConn vs. 12. Steph Curry, Davidson

Shabazz Napier’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 3 (2011, 2012, 2014); 13 games played

• Furthest Run: 2011 and 2014 National Champion

• Key Tournament Stats: 13.8 points per game, 4.2 rebounds per game, 4.1 assists per game, 1.7 steals per game

• Postseason Accolades: 2014 Most Outstanding Player

Until the repeat championship-winning teams of 2023 and 2024, Shabazz Napier was the only UConn star to have significantly contributed to multiple title teams. As the understudy to Kemba Walker during UConn’s amazing 2011 run, Napier provided a backcourt spark on both sides of the ball.

As the leader of the 2014 team, Napier delivered an NCAA Tournament performance comparable to that of his former teammate Walker. He averaged 21.2 points per game that postseason, carried the Huskies on his back to avoid a 1st-Round exit vs. Saint Joseph’s, and shot the 3-pointer brilliantly for much of the tournament.

Steph Curry’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 2 (2007, 2008); 5 games played

• Furthest Run: 2008 Elite Eight

• Key Tournament Stats: 31.6 points per game, 3.4 assists per game, 3.4 rebounds per game, 3.2 steals per game, 42.4% (28-of-66)

• Postseason Accolades: 2008 All-Regional

An embarrassing admission I must offer up before we touch upon Steph Curry’s unforgettable 2008 NCAA Tournament is that in the 2007 postseason, I thought he was the quintessential big fish in a small pond. As a freshman in Davidson’s opening-round loss to Maryland, his dominance of the ball en route to attempting 14 3-pointers hardly impressed me, much less inspired visions of a style that would transform basketball for a generation.

But as Curry shot Davidson into the Elite Eight the next year — and very nearly into the Final Four — I could no longer deny his excellence. No one could. Curry went on one of the most mind-blowing, four-game runs in March Madness history.

2. Grant Hill, Duke vs. 15. Markquis Nowell, Kansas State

Grant Hill’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 4 (1991-1994); 20 games played

• Furthest Run: 1991 and 1992 National Champion

• Key Tournament Stats: 13.5 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game, 4.3 assists per game, 1.9 steals per game, 1.2 blocks per game, 52.6% field-goal shooting (103-196)

• Postseason Accolades: 2x All-Tournament (1992 and 1994)

Grant Hill’s NCAA Tournament legacy spans four postseasons, three Final Four and National Championship Game runs, and a pair of titles. He earned a place in March Madness lore as a freshman, opening Duke’s championship win over Kansas with an iconic alley-oop dunk.

The next year, Hill was arguably worthy of Most Outstanding Player. His versatile game produced a pair of double-doubles and had him flirting with a triple-double in the East Regional overtime thriller against Kentucky.

As the undisputed star by his senior season, Hill nearly led Duke to a third national championship in four seasons. The defensive work to beat Purdue in the 1994 Elite Eight stands out, but Hill had an outstanding national semifinal showing against Florida with 25 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Markquis Nowell’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1 (2023); 4 games played

• Furthest Run: 2023 Elite Eight

• Key Tournament Stats: 23.5 points per game, 13.5 assists per game, 4 steals per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, 41.9% 3-point shooting (13-of-31)

• Postseason Accolades: 2023 All-Regional

Call it recency bias on my part, but I rank the 2023 NCAA Tournament as among the very best in my time following March Madness. While UConn’s dominant push to the first of two straight national championships proved anticlimactic, so much leading up was pure lunacy.

In that vein, Markquis Nowell was the perfect breakout star of the Dance.

At just 5-foot-7, Nowell played like a giant on K-State’s Elite Eight run. He did it all for the Wildcats — scoring, setting up teammates, generating pressure on defense — and did so with a panache that immortalizes a March Madness superstar.

7. Joel Berry II, North Carolina vs. 10. Ryan Arcidiacono, Villanova

Joel Berry II’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 4 (2015-2018); 17 games played

• Furthest Run: 2017 National Champion

• Key Tournament Stats: 12.9 points per game, 3.4 assists per game, 2.9 rebounds per game

• Postseason Accolades: 2017 Most Outstanding Player, 2x All-Tournament (2016, 2017)

Joel Berry II guided North Carolina to consecutive National Championship Games with an understated control. Berry was the type of player during those 2016 and 2017 title-game runs who you’d come away thinking, He played a solid game, then consult the stats to see he went for 15/5/7.

To wit, he approached a triple-double in the 2016 national semifinal win over Syracuse, went for 20 points and four assists in the unforgettable National Championship Game loss to Villanova, and went for 22 and six assists the following year in the crowning defeat of Gonzaga.

Ryan Arcidiacono’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 4 (2013-2016); 11 games played

• Furthest Run: 2016 National Champion

• Key Tournament Stats: 12.9 points per game, 3.6 assists per game, 2.2 rebounds per game, 1.6 steals per game

• Postseason Accolades: 2016 Most Outstanding Player

Perhaps the greatest Final Four ending ever came off of a Ryan Arcidiacono assist, putting a bow on the Villanova senior’s outstanding 2016 NCAA Tournament.

Or, more accurately, Arcidiacono’s drive-and-kick to Kris Jenkins put a tie on the 2016 national championship. Jim Nantz awarded Arcidiacono with the necktie the broadcaster was wearing during the postgame festivities. You can see the accessory draped on Arcidiacono’s neck in this fuzzy photo I took at the press conference!

Beyond earning a novelty fashion accessory, Arcidiacono helped exorcize Villanova’s NCAA Tournament demons in 2016, scoring at least 14 points in all six Wildcat wins.

3. Anderson Hunt, UNLV vs. 14. Jameer Nelson, Saint Joseph’s

Anderson Hunt’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 4 (1989-1991); 15 games played

• Furthest Run: 1990 National Champion

• Key Tournament Stats: 14.7 points per game, 3.3 assists per game, 2.5 rebounds per game, 1.6 steals per game

• Postseason Accolades: 1990 Most Outstanding Player, 2x All-Tournament (1990, 1991)

When one thinks of the dominant Runnin’ Rebels of the early 1990s, the names that might immediately come to mind are Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony. However, Anderson Hunt was the catalyst that brought it all together.

A difference-maker in multiple facets of the game, Hunt could get to the rim, shoot from long distance and dish to teammates with equal proficiency. He was also a pest on defense, fueling UNLV’s pressure approach that made the Runnin’ adjective in the team’s moniker more than just an alliterative nickname.

Jameer Nelson’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 3 (2001, 2003, 2004); 7 games played

• Furthest Run: 2004 Elite Eight

• Key Tournament Stats: 22.4 points per game, 6 rebounds per game, 5.4 assists per game, 2.3 steals per game

• Postseason Accolades: 2004 All-Region

My first introduction to Jameer Nelson wasn’t as the Saint Joseph’s star who claimed National Player of the Year honors, nor was he even the focal point of the Hawks team. But in March 2001 as a freshman, Nelson began building an impressive NCAA Tournament legacy as the backcourt mate of a personal favorite opening-weekend breakout player, Marvin O’Connor.

O’Connor’s 37 points on 17-of-21 shooting from the floor in a 2nd Round loss to top-seeded Stanford also saw the then-freshman Nelson came within an eyelash of a triple-double: 14 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

But what lands Nelson in the Mr. March Madness field is his play against Chris Paul in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Nelson went for 24 points, seven assists and three steals as the Hawks knocked off the Demon Deacons en route to the Elite Eight.

6. Walter Clayton Jr., Florida vs. 11. Kyle Guy, Virginia

Walter Clayton Jr.’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 3 (2023-2025); 8 games played

• Furthest Run: 2025 National Champion

• Key Tournament Stats: 22.8 points per game, 3.2 assists per game, 3 rebounds per game

• Postseason Accolades: 2025 Most Outstanding Player

Recency bias can work in two ways: The first and most obvious is placing too much emphasis on an event you just witnessed. On the flip side, one can perhaps overcorrect in an effort to not be a prisoner of the moment.

That’s all to say, it was really difficult not seeding Walter Clayton Jr. much higher than a No. 6. The 2025 recipient of the Most Outstanding Player had a remarkable run that included back-to-back 30-plus-point games, one of which fueled a frenzied comeback in the Elite Eight vs. Texas Tech.

Clayton also scored 30-plus points in three of his eight NCAA Tournament appearances overall, going for 33 in the 2024 1st Round loss to Colorado.

Kyle Guy’s Tale of the Tape

• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 3 (2017-2019); 9 games played

• Furthest Run: 2019 National Champion

• Key Tournament Stats: 11.8 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game, 1.2 assists per game

• Postseason Accolades: 2019 Most Outstanding Player

For Virginia to complete its redemption from becoming the first-ever program to lose a 1st Round game to a No. 16 seed, the Cavaliers needed to first get to Minneapolis and the Final Four. In one of the biggest moments in Virginia basketball history, Kyle Guy stepped up with a double-double — 25 points, shooting 5-of-12 from 3-point range, and grabbing 10 rebounds — as the Wahoos beat Purdue in a thrilling Elite Eight contest.

That’s an especially noteworthy game for the Mr. March Madness bracket, as it helped cement Carsen Edwards’ place in the field despite the Boilers’ loss. As for Guy, he earned his spot in the bracket with a Most Outstanding Player nomination received after again being the star of an overtime win, posting 24 points in the National Championship Game vs. Texas Tech.

1. Shout out to B_B for the correction, who writes, “It did feel like Zach Edey was in college forever, but over 30 years is Gerry McNamara level.”
I’m also taking this as an opportunity to post T.J. Sorrentine’s bucket to sink Syracuse in the 2005 1st Round.