INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.- Let the madness begin! This year's NCAA Tournaments will be packed with former Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers as with the release of the men's bracket on Sunday, eight different players who have donned the Purple and Aqua will be playing in the Big Dance.  Seven former FSW Men's players will take center stage in Indianapolis, thought to be the most of any junior college program in the country, while Nairimar Vargas-Reyes will represent the Bucs with Stony Brook on the women's side.  

 

Friday will be a fun day for Bucs fans as former FSW backcourt mates Keon Ellis and Berrick JeanLouis go head to head as Ellis' Alabama squad takes on JeanLouis and Iona. 

 

Ellis and the Tide punched their ticket Sunday, winning the SEC Tournament title, becoming the only Power 5 team to win both their conference's regular season and tournament title this season.  Ellis was a big factor in Alabama's success Sunday, scoring the first five points of the game for the Tide and finishing with 14 on the afternoon, while swatting away a potential game winning shot by LSU on the Tigers final possession of the game to lock up the win for Bama. 

 

While Ellis and Alabama played a near interrupted season, JeanLouis and Iona faced a very different fate, seemingly forced to try to dodge Covid issues all season long, playing just 13 regular season contests. The Gaels battled through the adversity to reach the MAAC Tournament final, fending off upstart Fairfield in the title game to punch their ticket to the Big Dance. JeanLouis was a big reason for the Gaels Tournament Championship run, playing 75 of the 80 minutes while chipping in 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists in the semifinal and final games of the tournament.  

 

Like Ellis, Destin Barnes helped his UCSB Gauchos to both a regular season and tournament title in the Big West.  USCB picked up a 12 seed and will take on Creighton in the first round and will surely be a popular 12/5 upset pick on fans tournament brackets.  Barnes played 20 minutes in the Gauchos first round win over Long Beach State and was on the court for 10 minutes during Saturday's Championship victory over UC Irvine.  

 

All of the other Bucs had to play the waiting game to see if they would get an at-large bid to the tourney.  

 

Maddox Daniels and the Colorado Buffaloes were a near lock heading into Selection Sunday, despite dropping a close two point decision to Oregon State in the PAC 12 Championship game late Saturday. Daniels and the Buffs drew a 5 seed for the tournament and will battle Patrick Ewing and all of a sudden red hot Georgetown, who came out of nowhere to win the Big East title this weekend in Madison Square Gardens. Daniels has shot it well for CU of late, hitting on 50% of his field goal attempts during the PAC 12 Tournament and in the Buffs past six games overall.  In Saturday's title game he played 17 minutes and was 2-2 shooting for CU.  

 

Three former FSW players and their former Bucs coach sat on pins and needles Sunday in Des Moines, Iowa as Shanquan Hemphill, DJ Wilkins, Tremell Murphy, and Marty Richter held their collective breaths to see if their Drake Bulldogs, who sat squarely on every bubble predictor there was, waited to see if their names would be called on Selection Sunday.  To their relief, it was, as the Bulldogs were tabbed an 11 seed and will take on Wichita State in the tournament's play in round Thursday. In last week's Missouri Valley Conference Championship game, Murphy and Wilkins put on a show, scoring 40 of the Bulldogs' 65 points with Wilkins never leaving the court and Murphy playing 36 of the 40 minutes in the contest.  Hemphill, who was having a monster season for the Bulldogs before being sidelined with a foot injury late in the season, is hoping to be back for Thursday's game against the Shockers.  

 

According to JucoAdvocate, the Bucs seven former players playing in the tournament are a part of 92 scholarship junior college players on NCAA Tournament teams, making up 10% of team rosters.  

 

On the women's side, Nairimar Vargas-Reyes and Stony Brook will be the Bucs' lone representative.  Vargas-Reyes and the Seawolves won the America East Championship for the first time in program history on Friday, defeating Maine on the Black Bears' home floor to punch their ticket to the Dance.  Vargas-Reyes played 13 minutes in the championship game, pulling down five rebounds, after scoring nine on 4-6 shooting to help the  Seawolves get past UMass Lowell in the semis.  

 

The current version of the Bucs Basketball teams will see some non-conference action this week as the FSW Men go to Hillsborough Monday and Pasco-Hernando Wednesday while the FSW Women go to North Carolina to take on Caldwell Tech and Warren Wilson Tuesday and Wednesday.