OFM_419 March Madness - v2 - FINAL_DEPT 3 / 21 / 19 2 : 16 PM Page 1 M A R C H M A D N E S S North Carolina’s Nassir Little Central Florida was well represented in this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament . in the first round — along with Many sports fans consider March Madness to Gonzaga’s Filip Petrusev , be the most exciting time of the year , and it’s Washington’s Noah Dickerson , hard to argue . This year , Central Florida found Seton Hall’s Sandro Mamukel - itself in the middle of the mayhem , as the area’s ashvili and Buffalo’s Davonta impact could be felt throughout the NCAA Jordan . Men’s Basketball Tournament . Senior guard Fletcher Not only did the University of Central Duke’s Magee , who starred at The Florida earn its first - ever at - large berth to the RJ Barrett First Academy , led Wofford tourney — and first appearance of any kind into the tourney after earning since 2005 — but a number of teams across the Southern Conference Player of country received major contributions from the Year honors . Ocoee’s local players . David Efianayi is the leading That includes a pair of No . 1 seeds : archri - scorer for Gardner - Webb , vals Duke and North Carolina . RJ Barrett , a Boone’s BJ Taylor holds the product of Montverde Academy , came into the same distinction for UCF and tournament as Duke’s leading scorer . Fellow Evans product Kerry freshman Nassir Little , a graduate of Orlando Blackshear is a sensational big Christian , is a key player off the bench for man for Virginia Tech . North Carolina . Both players are expected to Finally , Abilene Christian be top picks in this summer’s NBA Draft . Jaren Lewis , a Lake Highland graduate , exemplifies what March Madness is all about , Barrett is one of 10 former Montverde helped spark the team’s rise and made the qualifying for the tournament for the first players on the rosters of tournament teams . all - conference second team this season . time in program history after winning the Others include Nevada’s Jordan Caroline and Southland Conference championship . Senior Florida’s Andrew Nembhard — who faced off — Matt Cosentino 8 ORLANDO FAMILY april 2019 ORLANDOFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM