Cinderella stories come in all shapes and sizes. The 2023 NCAA Tournament had just about all of them. From a 16-seed knocking off a 1-seed to a 15-seed reaching the Sweet 16 and a 9-seed reaching the Final Four, there were some unforgettable moments from players and programs few had any familiarity with entering March.
One way or another, a Cinderella story is bound to hit this year. That doesn’t necessarily mean a 14- or 15-seed will pull off an upset. It’s happened more often than not in recent years, but it doesn’t happen every year. Cinderella can come from anywhere, however, and it’s the players who make those special moments happen.
Some of this year’s under-the-radar stars are proof that talent can come from anywhere. Only one player listed below actually started his college career at the same school, and two weren’t even born in the U.S. They will all be worth watching when the opportunity to pull off an upset arrives.
Here are six players who could bust brackets across college basketball in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
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Shahada Wells, McNeese
Some fans decry the transfer portal because it incentivizes talented players to jump from smaller schools to larger programs. That’s fair. Wells is a reminder that the portal can be utilized for the opposite effect as well.
A talented guard who initially jumped from junior college to UT-Arlington, Wells was a major transfer addition for TCU in 2021. He was never able to find his footing, rarely playing in 2021-22 before emerging as a role player off the Horned Frogs’ bench in 2022-23.
Wells re-entered the portal and found a home at McNeese, where coach Will Wade aggressively rebuilt the Cowboys’ roster after taking over in the spring. Now, the sixth-year senior is the focal point of one of the most lethal mid-major teams in the nation.
Wells is averaging 17.8 points, 4.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game for McNeese, shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from 3-point range.
The leap from facing the Southland Conference to facing Gonzaga is significant, but Wells has shined against higher-end competition this season. He exploded for 36 points in a win over UAB, dropped 30 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in a road victory over Michigan and scored 23 points in a win over VCU.
Wells appears built for this moment. Whether McNeese can take down Gonzaga largely rests on his shoulders.
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Jack Gohlke, Oakland
Could Kentucky really go down again? If Oakland has any chance of pulling off the upset, it might come down to the shooting stroke of Gohlke.
Gohlke might not be the Grizzlies’ best player. He’s not their leading scorer, a distinction that goes to Trey Townsend. Gohlke is a unique player, however, and he’s the type of player you often need to surprise a team in March.
Gohlke exclusively shoots 3-pointers. That’s not hyperbole. He has attempted 335 shots this season, 327 of which have come from beyond the arc. Gohlke is shooting 37.0 percent from 3-point range, and all he does is continue to chuck them up. Kentucky found out in 2022 what can happen when a shooter (Doug Edert) gets hot, and Gohlke has that potential.
A Division II transfer, Gohlke’s 12.1 points per game are a bit deceiving. He’s taken time to settle in at the Division I level, and settle in he has. Gohlke is averaging 17.2 points over his last 13 games, during which Oakland went 11-2, and he’s shooting an outstanding 44.6 percent from 3-point range over that stretch.
Kentucky faced a similar player in 2019 when Wofford reached the second round on the back of Fletcher Magee’s shooting ability. Magee shot 0-for-12 in what turned out to be a narrow Kentucky win. It would benefit John Calipari to dig deep and figure out what allowed his team to neutralize such a dangerous 3-point shooter five years ago and give it another try.
HISTORY OF UPSETS BY SEED:
16 vs. 1 | 15 vs. 2 | 14 vs. 3 | 13 vs. 4 | 12 vs. 5
Keisei Tominaga, Nebraska
Nebraska wouldn’t be a typical Cinderella unless the Cornhuskers knocked off Houston in the second round. Tominaga is one reason that can happen — and one player America could fall in love with this March.
The Japanese-born guard started his career in junior college and broke through with Nebraska last season, his second year with the program. Tominaga shot 40 percent from 3-point range and 50.3 percent overall, helping make a downtrodden Cornhuskers team watchable. This season, he’s been a driving force behind Nebraska’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade.
Tominaga’s value might be limited outside of scoring, but scoring is pretty important in March. He flashed his ability to take over a game in Nebraska’s regular-season finale when he scored 30 points against Michigan. He carried that momentum into the Big Ten Tournament with 23 points (4-of-7 from 3-point range) in a quarterfinal win over Indiana.
If Nebraska wants to get past Texas A&M and shock Houston, shots are going to have to fall. The Cornhuskers’ ceiling is higher than some might expect when Tominaga gets hot, and a run to the second weekend might make the senior guard a sensation in March.
MORE: How the ‘Japanese Steph Curry’ improved his NBA chances
Riley Minix, Morehead State
Minix is another player who transferred up, having spent the bulk of his career at the NAIA level before joining Morehead State this season. It’s worked out tremendously for both parties.
Minix is averaging 20.8 points and 9.8 rebounds for the Eagles, even flashing an ability to shoot the 3 with a 34.0 percent mark despite his size. Those numbers are even better over Morehead State’s last 16 games, with Minix averaging 23.8 points and 10.4 rebounds while shooting higher than 38.0 percent from beyond the arc over that stretch.
Morehead State runs through Minix, and there likely isn’t a path to matching Illinois’ high-flying offense without a big performance from the fifth-year senior.
What would be a better March story than a player going from the NAIA level to an NCAA Tournament upset of Illinois in just a year? Unless you’re an Illini fan, that would be a special outcome.
EXPERT PICKS: DeCourcy (UConn) | Bender (UConn) | Iyer (UConn) | Yanchulis (South Carolina women)
Great Osobor, Utah State
Osobor is one player who actually transferred up, but it wasn’t a tough decision for the U.K.-born forward. He simply followed coach Danny Sprinkle from Montana State to Utah State, giving his coach some continuity on an otherwise rebuilt roster. What few expected was the way Osobor broke out this season.
Osobor is averaging 18.0 points and 9.2 rebounds for the Aggies after coming off the bench in his two seasons at Montana State, emerging as one of the most powerful big men in the Mountain West.
Sprinkle returned precisely zero points from last season’s Utah State team, so it’s not an exaggeration to say Osobor’s breakthrough was one of the most impactful leaps of any player in the country. The junior has 15 double-doubles and was held to single-digit points in only one Mountain West contest.
It wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see Utah State handle TCU in the first round, but if you’re looking for the team that might upend Purdue, how about Osobor and the Aggies? If Osobor outduels Zach Edey in the second round, he will instantly become a March superstar.
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Terrence Edwards Jr., James Madison
James Madison is one of the most fascinating teams in the field this year. Are they 2024’s FAU, a three-loss team that has a case to feel slighted by the committee? Are they this year’s Oral Roberts, an underdog with a high-flying offense who quickly became everyone’s favorite upset pick?
FAU, of course, went to the Final Four, while Oral Roberts was quickly dispatched by Duke. A similarly wide range of outcomes could be on the table for the Dukes. Whether James Madison can advance in the tournament will largely depend on Edwards.
Edwards hasn’t received too much attention this season despite James Madison’s 31 wins, but he’s been a star for the Dukes. A senior who has spent all four of his collegiate seasons at James Madison, Edwards is averaging 17.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists on the year.
While his efficiency has dipped a bit from last season, when his role was more specialized, Edwards is shooting 38.2 percent from 3-point range over James Madison’s last 14 games. As he’s heated up, so have the Dukes, who enter the tournament on a 13-game win streak.
Edwards is someone Wisconsin’s defense will need to be all over when the ball is tipped on Friday night.