Top 25 March Madness heroes of all-time

One of the best one-and-dones in college basketball history had to have been Carmelo Anthony. Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse Orange wish he would have stuck around another couple of years to bring more than one title, but he led the program to its first ever national championship in 2003.

It’s hard to believe the Orange have just one national title banner, but no one will forget who led them there. Anthony was one of the greatest tourney performers in recent memory, averaging 20.2 points and 9.8 rebounds while shooting 48 percent from both the floor and behind the 3-point line.

Syracuse would not have been able to make the unbelievable run in March without the star freshman and it’s not easy to excel on the big stage in year one, but Anthony was able to do just that and it’s one of the reasons he was a top-five draft pick just months later.

Just how heroic was the freshman in that 2003 NCAA Tournament? Well, Syracuse began the season unranked and earned a 3-seed in the tourney. He scored a total of 53 points and grabbed 24 points in the Final Four and earned the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award.

Come to college, play one year, lead your program to its first ever title while earning the freshman of the year and most outstanding player of the tourney awards and earn the No. 3 pick in the draft. Can’t script it much better than that.