Made the second weekend
With 76.5 percent of the tournament field eliminated after the first two rounds, it’s a point of pride to be able to make it to the second weekend of tournament games.
Jake Layman
Jake Layman made the NCAA Tournament twice during his days with the Maryland Terrapins. In 2015, the Terrapins made it to the Round of 32 before falling 69-59 to West Virginia Mountaineers.
The following season, however, Maryland managed push past the South Dakota State Jackrabbits and Hawaii Rainbow Warriors to make the Sweet 16 in 2016. Despite the accomplishment, No. 1 Kansas promptly defeated No. 5 Maryland in that game, 79-63.
Caleb Swanigan
Caleb Swanigan made his name in two years at the college level. Starting every game he played for the Purdue Boilermakers, he was a major part in getting them to the tourney twice while in West Lafayette.
In 2015-16, Swanigan’s freshman year, No. 5 Purdue was upset by the No. 12 Little Rock Trojans in double-overtime. This motivated the Boilermakers to bounce back the following year. They returned in 2016-17 to win the Big Ten regular season title and earned a No. 4 seed.
Purdue scored 80 points in each of their first two games to earn a slot in the Sweet 16. However, the run came to a crashing halt. Despite 18 points and seven rebounds from Swanigan, No. 3 Kansas blew out Purdue, 98-66.
Evan Turner
Swingman Evan Turner also watched his team take baby steps over the years to earn a spot in the second weekend. His Ohio State Buckeyes missed the tournament his freshman year, were bounced in the first round his second year and made the Sweet 16 his junior season.
Turner’s first appearance in the 2009 NCAA Tournament was cut short by a 74-72 double-overtime upset to the Siena Saints. The following year, however, Turner led OSU’s Sweet 16 run.
Ohio State fought past the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to reach the second weekend. However, his 31 points against the Tennessee Volunteers weren’t enough for the Buckeyes to avoid a 76-73 defeat.
Pat Connaughton
Unlike the other three, Pat Connaughton advanced to the Elite Eight during his college career. His freshman and sophomore seasons with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish ended with Round of 64 defeats. After missing the tourney his junior year, Connaughton’s Fighting Irish bounced back in a big way his senior season.
Notre Dame went 32-6 overall in 2014-15, with Connaughton averaging 12.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. The Irish won the ACC Tournament and clinched a No. 3 seed in the tournament. They eeked out hard-fought wins over the Northeastern Huskies, Butler Bulldogs and Wichita State Shockers before meeting up with No. 1 Kentucky.
This Elite Eight matchup also went down to the wire but Kentucky ultimately came out victorious, 68-66. This bolstered the Wildcats’ record to 38-0 on the season. However, it would be their last win of the season, as they fell to the Wisconsin Badgers in the Final Four.