NBA players who shone during their NCAA tournament runs

Hate him or, well, hate him, Laettner racked up several memorable NCAA championship performances during his time at Duke in the early 1990s. Two overtime buzzer-beaters in regional finals in 1990 and 1992 cap off his highlight reel. He also shot a perfect game at the 1992 regional final against Kentucky, deemed by many as the greatest college game of all time, before going on to lead Duke to their second national championship in a row that year.

Due to his status as a four-year starter on a team that made the Final Four every year he was on the team, Laettner holds a great deal of NCAA tournament records, including points scored, games played, games won, free throws made, and free throws won. He was controversial in part because of his greatness, and his level of play in his junior and senior seasons allowed the Blue Devils to win it all back-to-back in ‘91 and ‘92, winning Most Outstanding Player in the former.