March Madness 2019: 5 small school players poised to be household names

While most of the attention will be focused on the likes of Zion Williamson, these five small school stars are poised to be stars during March Madness.

While the bracket has traditionally been dominated by teams from power conferences, the little guys are what makes March Madness great. Last year was a perfect example when UMBC became the first 16-seed ever to upset a no. 1 and Loyola-Chicago shocked the world on the way to the Final Four.

When the smaller schools make big runs, a lot of their players become nationally recognized, like Clayton Custer and Marques Towns from last year’s Ramblers. Don’t forget Stephen Curry, who first announced his presence on the national stage by taking Davidson all the way to the Elite Eight back in 2008.

While there may not be a future Curry in this year’s bracket, there are a few guys poised to announce their presence to America over the next several weeks. Here are our top five candidates to become the nation’s newest small-school star.

5. Anthony Lamb, Vermont

The America East champs have been a formidable squad all season, going 27-6 to claim the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Catamounts are definitely a threat to pull an upset, and their go-to-guy has been junior forward Anthony Lamb.

Lamb leads Vermont in both scoring (21.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg) while shooting 52.2% from the floor. The Catamounts have also had a lot of experience against top competition, playing Louisville and Kansas in the non-conference portion of the schedule, and Lamb scored a combined 49 points in those games.

The 6-6 forward has the capability to be a matchup problem and shoots a respectable 36.4% from beyond the arc. Opposing teams will definitely to be on alert when they see Lamb on their scouting reports as he has the potential to wreck games, recording at least 25 points on 10 separate occasions.