The best NBA and WNBA performances from March Madness history

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Legends are made in the NCAA tournament. Not every player who stands out during the Big Dance ends up performing well at the next level, but it’s certainly not a bad indicator by any means. Years from now, we might look back at some of the top performers in the 2023 men’s and women’s tournaments and say that this was the moment they truly became stars.

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Some of the players active in the NBA and WNBA had some incredible performances in the tournament. Here are a few of the best:

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Morant led the 12-seed Murray State Racers to a first-round upset of the 5-seed Marquette Golden Eagles in the 2019 NCAA tournament. To top it off, he recorded a triple-double (17 points, 11 rebounds, 16 assists). Murray State fell to Florida State in the second round, but Morant didn’t go quietly, dropping 28 points in the loss.

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In her junior season in 2017, Wilson led the South Carolina Gamecocks to their first tournament championship while winning Most Outstanding Player. She dropped a double-double in the title game against Mississippi State, scoring 23 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

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The third-seeded Stanford Cardinal had a tough second-round matchup against six-seeded Marquette in the 2008 tournament. Lopez, playing alongside his twin brother Robin, stepped up when it counted, hitting a game-winning buzzer-beater in his team’s 82-81 victory.

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Four seasons. Four NCAA tournament titles. Four Most Outstanding Player awards. What else needs to be said about Stewie’s career with the UConn Huskies? Her 2015-16 tournament was particularly dominant, as she averaged 20.3 points, 11 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 3.2 blocks and 2.3 steals per game.

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The Davidson Wildcats were underdogs in each of their 2008 tournament games, but only because the world hadn’t been properly introduced to Curry yet. In the 2008 tournament, Curry led 11-seed Davidson to the Elite Eight, defeating the 7-seed Gonzaga Bulldogs (40 points), the 2-seed Georgetown Hoyas (30 points, including 25 in the second half) and the 3-seed Wisconsin Badgers (33 points) along the way. Davidson lost to 1-seed and the eventual champion Kansas Jayhawks in the Elite Eight, but not for lack of trying — Curry had 25 points and the game ended as a 59-57 nail-biter.

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The seventh-seeded Washington Huskies went on an improbable run in the 2016 tournament, making it all the way to the Final Four — and Plum was a huge part of that. She averaged 24.4 points and 6.2 assists per game, including a 32-point outburst against the Maryland Terrapins in the second round.

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The 2012 tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Davis led the Kentucky Wildcats to their eighth NCAA title. He put up an 18-point, 14-rebound, 5-block performance against the Louisville Cardinals in the Final Four, and though he only scored six points in the national…