Hello again! Players return to March Madness, this time playing for new teams

One year after Terrence Edwards and Chucky Hepburn played against each other in the NCAA Tournament, they are experiencing March Madness again as teammates at an entirely different school.

This is college basketball in the era of the transfer portal.

Edwards scored a team-high 14 points last year to help a 12th-seeded James Madison team upset Hepburn’s Wisconsin squad 72-61 in the first round. Both players left their respective schools in the offseason for Louisville, where new coach Pat Kelsey was overhauling the roster after a dreadful season in which the Cardinals went 8-24.

They are now the two leading scorers for a Louisville team that earned the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019. The Cardinals (27-7) face Creighton (24-10) in Lexington, Kentucky.

Edwards, a 6-foot-6 swingman, was the Sun Belt Conference player of the year at James Madison last season. He followed up his 14-point performance against Wisconsin by scoring 13 points in a second-round loss to Duke. He has averaged 16.6 points, 4.1 rebound and 2.6 assists for Louisville this season.

Hepburn, a three-year starter at Wisconsin, was an Associated Press All-ACC first-team selection this season. The 6-2 senior guard has 16.2 points, 5.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game.

Edwards and Hepburn will try to carry over what they learned from their previous March Madness experiences at their former schools. Edwards said the stakes involved lead to more physical play.

“You’ve got seniors out there like me that’s going to leave it all on the line, both ways — our team, their team,” Edwards said. “Guys don’t want their college career to end because it’s so fun playing in an atmosphere like this. Everyone is going to leave it on the line, and anything can happen in March.”

There are plenty of other players in this year’s NCAA Tournament who were here last year as well, only with different schools:

JaKobe Coles, F, Grand Canyon (TCU)

Opening game: vs. Maryland in Seattle.

Notes: Coles is a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference player who was selected as the most outstanding player of the conference tournament. The 6-8 senior played five NCAA Tournament games over the last three seasons at TCU. He scored 19 points last year in a 88-72 first-round loss to Utah State. He has 14.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game this season.

Vladislav Goldin, C, Michigan (Florida Atlantic)

Opening game: vs. UC San Diego in Denver.

Notes: Goldin, who is 7-foot-1, averaged 7.2 points and 7.4 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament during Florida Atlantic’s 2023 Final Four run. He had 19 points and nine rebounds in the Owls’ first-round overtime loss to Northwestern last year. He followed former FAU coach Dusty May to Michigan and averaged 16.7 points and 6.8 rebounds this season. Goldin earned first-team All-Big Ten honors from the league’s media and was a second-team selection by the league’s coaches and The Associated Press. Other players from that 2023 FAU Final Four team back in the NCAA Tournament with new teams include San Diego State’s Nick Boyd, Arkansas’ Johnell Davis and Florida’s Alijah Martin.

Tyrese Hunter, G, Memphis (Texas)

Opening game: vs. Colorado State in Seattle.

Notes: Hunter is in the tournament for a third different team after getting to the Sweet 16 with Iowa State in 2022 and reaching a regional final with Texas in 2023. He was back at Texas last year when the Longhorns lost in the round of 32. Hunter has averaged 11.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals in nine career NCAA Tournament games. The 6-foot senior has 13.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game this season. Hunter has a foot injury that prevented him from playing in the American Athletic Tournament championship game and leaves his status for the NCAA Tournament in doubt.

Zeke Mayo, G, Kansas (South Dakota State)

Opening game: vs. Arkansas in Providence, Rhode Island.

Notes: Mayo was in his third and final season at South Dakota State last year when he collected 19 points and four assists in an 82-65 NCAA Tournament first-round loss to Iowa State. He also scored 11 points in a 66-57 first-round loss to Providence in 2022. The 6-4 senior was a third-team All-Big 12 selection by the league’s coaches this season. He averages 14.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3 assists.

Mark Mitchell, G/F, Missouri (Duke)

Opening game: vs. Drake at Wichita, Kansas.

Notes: Mitchell was a starter at Duke each of the last two seasons. After a knee issue prevented him from playing in a round of 32 loss to Tennessee in 2023, Mitchell played four NCAA Tournament games for Duke last season and averaged 6.3 points. He has 14.3 points and 4.7 assists per game for Missouri this season. He was a second-team AP All-Southeastern Conference selection. Mitchell hurt his right knee in the SEC Tournament but is expected to be available this week.

JT Toppin, F, Texas Tech (New Mexico)

Opening game: vs. UNC Wilmington at Wichita, Kansas.

Notes: Big 12 coaches selected Toppin as the conference player of the year for his performance in his debut season at Texas Tech. The 6-9 sophomore had six points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in New Mexico’s 77-56 first-round loss to Clemson last season. Toppin has averaged 18.1 points and 9.2 rebounds for Texas Tech while shooting 54.8% from the floor.

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