Main characters of March Madness 2025: Standouts from every round

One of the joys of March Madness is the accidental for each subordinate to shine. Whether they're playing for a apical effect oregon an underdog, each jock has an adjacent changeable astatine etching their sanction into tourney lore arsenic they combat done the bracket for a nationalist title.

This year's tournaments mightiness beryllium airy connected Cinderella runs -- 7 of the 8 Final Four teams are No. 1 seeds, with Geno Auriemma's UConn women's squad arsenic the lone No. 2.

But that hasn't stopped caller stars from emerging.

From clutch plays to captivating personalities, the roadworthy to the Final Four has been filled with players making their mark.

Here's a round-by-round look astatine the main characters of March Madness.

First Round

Amir Khan: Manager, McNeese Cowboys

Affectionately known arsenic "Aura," Khan went viral successful February aft starring McNeese down locker country tunnels with a boombox successful hand, rapping on to Lud Foe's "In & Out" -- the team's designated walkout song. His March infinitesimal grew bigger erstwhile the 12-seed Cowboys upset No. 5 Clemson successful the archetypal circular of the men's tournament.

Before McNeese fell to Purdue successful the 2nd round, Khan kept gaining traction, starring to him becoming the archetypal student-manager to motion an NIL deal, landing multiple.

Deja Kelly: Oregon Ducks

Despite blowing a 19-point second-half lead, 10-seed Oregon outlasted 7-seed Vanderbilt successful overtime to beforehand to the 2nd round.

North Carolina transportation Deja Kelly led the charge, finishing with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. With conscionable nether 3 minutes near successful OT, she grabbed a cardinal antiaircraft rebound and dished to Nani Falatea for a go-ahead 3-pointer. Kelly's clutch escaped throws besides helped seal the 77-73 win.

Second Round

Derik Queen, Maryland Terrapins; John Calipari, Arkansas Razorbacks

With six seconds left, Colorado State defender Jalen Lake buried a rainbow 3 implicit Derik Queen to springiness the 12-seed Rams the lead.

Then, the 6-foot-10 freshman from Baltimore, Maryland, had a "March moment" for the ages.

Trailing 71-70 with 3.6 seconds remaining, Queen banked successful a buzzer-beating fadeaway to assistance Maryland to a 72-71 win, sending the Terps to their archetypal Sweet 16 since 2016.

Calipari's Razorbacks were the closest happening to a Cinderella squad successful the tourney this year. In his archetypal play arsenic Arkansas' caput coach, helium managed to pb the 10-seed Hogs to the tournament.

To marque things adjacent sweeter, helium knocked disconnected longtime rival Rick Pitino and No. 2-seeded St. John's to scope his 16th Sweet 16.

Lauren Betts, UCLA Bruins; Aneesah Morrow, LSU Tigers

Betts was astir unstoppable, scoring 31 points connected 15-of-16 shooting to powerfulness UCLA past Ole Miss and into its archetypal Elite Eight since 2018.

The 6-foot-7 halfway added 10 rebounds and 3 blocks successful the win. Betts dominated early, scoring 16 of the Bruins' 30 first-half points -- the 2nd clip this play she has accounted for much than 50% of their scoring successful a half. The Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year capped it disconnected with a game-high plus-23 rating.

Morrow, the nation's apical rebounder, notched her 30th double-double of the play with 30 points and 19 rebounds.

She acceptable the code aboriginal with 10 points successful the archetypal quarter, past took implicit again successful the third, scoring 11 of LSU's 21 points successful the Tigers' triumph implicit the NC State Wolfpack.

Sweet 16

Milos Uzan, Houston Cougars; Cooper Flagg, Duke Blue Devils

With 0.9 seconds left, Houston caput manager Kelvin Sampson drew up the cleanable inbounds play, and Uzan executed it flawlessly.

Uzan tossed the shot to Joseph Tugler, who bounced it close back, allowing the 6-foot-4 defender to chopped to the rim for an uncontested layup that gave the top-seeded Cougars a melodramatic triumph implicit Purdue.

Flagg delivered a commanding show that included a bid of game-changing moments; a heavy 3-pointer conscionable earlier the halftime buzzer, a no-look assistance for an alley-oop, different for a 3-pointer and a pivotal blocked changeable successful a showing Duke caput manager Jon Scheyer called 1 of the champion tourney performances he has ever witnessed.

He finished with 30 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks successful Duke's triumph implicit Arizona.

Paige Bueckers, UConn Huskies; MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina Gamecocks

Bueckers scored a career-high 40 points, lifting UConn retired of a sluggish archetypal fractional and turning a choky crippled against Oklahoma into an 82-59 blowout. She poured successful 29 aft the break, erasing a 36-32 halftime shortage astir single-handedly.

Bueckers besides matched her vocation precocious with six 3-pointers -- 2 of them coming during a idiosyncratic 10-0 tally successful the 4th fourth that sealed the win.

Sophomore defender MiLaysia Fulwiley scored a team-leading 23 points to support South Carolina's nationalist rubric defence alive.

With the Gamecocks trailing 60-59 late, her layup sparked a 7-0 run, and she followed it up with a go-ahead bucket astatine the 2:22 people to assistance assistance South Carolina past Maryland.

Elite Eight:

Johni Broome, Auburn Tigers; Walter Clayton Jr. Florida Gators

Broome led Auburn with 25 points and 14 rebounds, shooting an businesslike 10-of-13 from the field, draining some of his 3-point attempts.

He took a hard autumn connected his close limb portion trying to artifact a changeable with 10:37 near but returned 5 minutes aboriginal to a large ovation from Auburn fans.

With his elbow wrapped, Broome drained a 3-pointer little than a infinitesimal aft checking successful and aboriginal pulled down a rebound with 1 hand, capping a gutsy performance.

Clayton came done successful the clutch, drilling 2 precocious 3-pointers to rally top-seeded Florida past Texas Tech and into its archetypal Final Four since 2014. With nether a infinitesimal to go, Clayton dribbled retired of postulation and buried a fadeaway 3 to springiness the Gators a 78-77 lead.

"There's not different subordinate successful America you would alternatively person close present than Walter Clayton with the shot successful his hands successful a big-time moment," said caput manager Todd Golden.

Clayton, who began his assemblage vocation with Iona, finished with a team-leading 30 points.

Gabriela Jaquez, UCLA

With prima halfway Lauren Betts spending the full 2nd 4th connected the seat and playing constricted minutes overall, UCLA's different stars stepped up successful the triumph implicit LSU.

Gabriela Jaquez led the charge, finishing with a team-high 18 points and 8 rebounds. Her clutch 3-pointer with 1:30 near sealed the Bruins' triumph implicit the squad that knocked them retired successful past year's Sweet 16.