Arguably the best sporting event of the year is currently in its early stages as March Madness got started on Tuesday night with the First Four, and then the first round got started on Thursday. The First Four gave us an early taste of the tournament and there were some great matchups, but Thursday was March Madness at its finest. The first day is always one of the best as there are 16 games going from noon all the way until around midnight ET. We saw a lot of great action on day one, and now, college basketball fans are ready to do it all again this weekend. All of the madness in the next few weeks will be great, but it also makes us want to revisit some of the best March moments and players. One of those players is former Villanova basketball star Jalen Brunson.
There is so much to love about March Madness, and the first week of the tournament is one of the best stretches in all of sports. Basketball begins at noon and there are countless good games all day and into the night. College basketball fans are currently setting up multiple TVs to be able to take in as much March Madness action at once as humanly possible. It doesn't get much better than this weekend when it comes to sports, and Villanova basketball fans know best how fun it can. The Wildcats have won two national titles in recent memory, and Jalen Brunson was part of both of those teams.
Another great part of March Madness are the historic performances put on by individual players, and Brunson is familiar with that. Every so often we will see a player completely take over a game and put their team on their back, and they sometimes carry their squad all the way to a national title. It's always fun to watch. When it gets to the later stages of the tournament, everyone knows that player is getting the ball, and still, no one can stop him. We saw some of that in this tournament from Jack Gohlke on Oakland, and Brunson has been a star in March Madness as well.
Jalen Brunson March Madness history
Before Jalen Brunson was a star in the NBA, he played his college basketball at Villanova. The Wildcats had some special seasons when Brunson was part of the team, and he ended up winning two national titles there.
Brunson played for Villanova from 2015-2018, and he was key player on all three of those teams. As a freshman, Brunson averaged 9.6 PPG in his first national title season. He averaged 14.7 PPG during his sophomore season, and he averaged 18.9 PPG in his junior season when he won another national title. Brunson got better and better every season that he was at Villanova, and it shows with his stats. He was always one of the best players on the team, and he is a big reason why the Wildcats were able to win those two national titles.
Brunson's first experience with March Madness came in 2016. Villanova won the Big East regular season title that year, and they earned a two seed in the NCAA Tournament. The first three games for the Wildcats were easy as they cruised past UNC Asheville, Iowa and Miami. There was some trouble in the Elite Eight, however, but Villanova ended up taking down one seed Kansas to advance to the Final Four. Brunson had some crucial free throws down the stretch in that game to ice the win.
Then, the Wildcats got back to their winning ways and blew Oklahoma out of the water in the Final Four. They beat the Sooners 95-51. Villanova then took down North Carolina in one of the best national title games the sport has ever seen. The Tar Heels hit a crazy three with four seconds left to tie the game, but Kris Jenkins ended up winning the game on a buzzer beater three for the Wildcats. Brunson was quiet and had just four points.
Jalen Brunson and Villanova basketball won another national title just two years later, and it was one of the most dominant runs we have ever seen in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats won every game by double digits. They started things off in the first weekend with two easy wins against Radford and Alabama. Villanova then earned a spot in the Final Four the next weekend with a comfortable 12-point win against West Virginia and a blowout win against Texas Tech.
Villanova took on Kansas in the Final Four, and it was supposed to be a great game between two heavyweights. The Wildcats cruised past the Jayhawks 95-79 to set up a date with Michigan in the national game. Again, the national title was another easy win for Villanova as they beat the Wolverines 79-62. Brunson finished with nine points, and he was a crucial part of that team.
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