Top 25 March Madness heroes of all-time

Honestly, I was debating on whether to give this No. 2 spot to Jim Valvano or Lorenzo Charles, but since we are sticking with the theme of players as heroes, we will go with the latter.

Although, Valvano deserves some recognition for what he did with the 1983 NC State Wolfpack. The sixth-seeded Wolfpack made an improbable run to the Final Four, beating fourth-seeded Georgia and No. 1 seed Houston to win the national title.

How the Wolfpack did that is what gives the hero honor to Charles. With 44 seconds on the clock and the national title game knotted up at 52-52, NC State passed the ball around the perimeter and near half court to melt the time down. The Wolfpack wanted to get the last shot, obviously, and as the time was under 10 seconds, the passes got a little sloppier.

With four seconds on the clock, NC State hoisted up a deep 3-pointer and it came just short, but Charles was there to catch it and dunk it as time expired. NC State would win in shocking fashion.

Valvano will always be remembered for his celebration after the victory as he was looking around for someone to hug after Charles made the game-winning dunk as time expired. The head coach passed away at the age of 47 in 1996 after a battle with cancer and people still remember him to this day as an inspiration.