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Athletes in other sports (or famous professions) who played in the NCAA Tournament
MLB great Kenny Lofton played in the NCAA Tournament for the Arizona Wildcats. Chuck Solomon/NBAE via Getty Images

Athletes in other sports (or famous professions) who played in the NCAA Tournament

The NCAA Tournament is a time that not only gets us excited about crowning the champion of this season but also let's us reminisce about players and performances of tournaments past.  While many of the schools stay the same, the names always change.

Some of those names are famous for something other than actually playing in the tournament. There are players who went on to play baseball, football, wrestling or turn pro in something other than sports (like acting or politics).  

Here is a list of athletes in other sports who have played in the NCAA Tournament.  

 
1 of 20

Martellus Bennett, Texas A&M

Martellus Bennett, Texas A&M
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Super Bowl LI champion Martellus Bennett (left) was a bench player for two seasons at Texas A&M. Bennett scored two points and grabbed five rebounds against Final Four-bound LSU in the second round of the 2006 tournament.

 
2 of 20

Marc Blucas, Wake Forest

Marc Blucas, Wake Forest
Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

The "Buffy" and "Necessary Roughness" actor played alongside Tim Duncan and Randolph Childress at Wake Forest in the  early 1990s. Blucas scored eight points against Kansas in the second round of the 1994 NCAA Tournament and scored two points in a 1993 Sweet 16 loss to Kentucky. He played a year of pro ball in England before switching careers.

 
3 of 20

Cam Cameron, Indiana

Cam Cameron, Indiana
NFL via Getty Images

Cam Cameron played two seasons of basketball for Indiana's Bobby Knight in the early 1980s. He didn't receive much playing time but did see court time against Wayman Tisdale and Oklahoma in 1983. Cameron, who also played football in Bloomington, suffered a knee injury that ended his athletic career. He moved on to coaching and became the head coach of the Miami Dolphins as well as his alma mater.  

 
4 of 20

Antonio Gates, Kent State

Antonio Gates, Kent State
Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Antonio Gates led Kent State to the 2002 Elite Eight by averaging 16 points and eight rebounds during the season. The following year, Gates averaged over 20 points for the Golden Flash, and his No. 44 has been retired by the school. He is a three-time First-Team All-Pro for the Los Angeles Chargers and on the team's 50th Anniversary Team. He retired in 2020.

 
5 of 20

Brendan Gaughan, Georgetown

Brendan Gaughan, Georgetown
Jerry Markland/Getty Images

NASCAR driver Brendan Gaughan was a member of the Georgetown Hoyas during the mid-1990s. He was an end-of-the-bench player who did get to the Elite Eight in 1996. (Some guy named Allen Iverson was the star). Gaughan was also the kicker for Georgetown's football team.

 
6 of 20

Tony Gonzalez, California

Tony Gonzalez, California
Otto Greule /Allsport/Getty Images

Arguably the best tight end in NFL history, Tony Gonzalez was also quite the basketball player. In 1997, his Cal team reached the Sweet 16 before losing to North Carolina. In the two games leading up to that, Gonzalez averaged 18 points against Princeton and Villanova. He is the NFL's all-time leader for touchdown receptions and receiving yards by a tight end and a 2019 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

 
7 of 20

Jimmy Graham, Miami

Jimmy Graham, Miami
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Where did you think he learned how to dunk on goal posts? Packers tight end Jimmy Graham was a tough-as-nails player for Miami's hoops team for four seasons and then played a graduate year for the football team. Graham's Hurricanes appeared in the NCAA Tournament just once, but he did score nine points in their first-round win over Saint Mary's in 2008.

 
8 of 20

Brad Johnson, Florida State

Brad Johnson, Florida State
Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Brad Johnson won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but did you know he was also a basketball player at Florida State? Johnson actually hit all three three-point shots he took in the Seminoles' first-round loss to B.J. Armstrong's Iowa Hawkeyes in 1988. Johnson led Florida State in free-throw shooting his freshman year as well.  

 
9 of 20

Kenny Lofton, Arizona

Kenny Lofton, Arizona
Chuck Solomon/NBAE via Getty Images

People forget that baseball star Kenny Lofton actually attended Arizona on a basketball scholarship. Lofton backed up Steve Kerr and Craig McMillan on the Wildcats' 1988 Final Four team and was the starting point guard the following season when the team got to the Sweet 16. He finished his Arizona career as the program's leader in steals and is one of two players who played in a Final Four and a World Series.

 
10 of 20

Larry Lucchino, Princeton

Larry Lucchino, Princeton
Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

The Larry Lucchino era in Boston brought the Red Sox three World Series titles and began the retro-style ballpark when he helped bring Oriole Park at Camden Yards to baseball. Back in 1967, Lucchino played in three NCAA Tournament games for Princeton. In 1965, he was a member of Princeton's Final Four team led by Hall of Famer Bill Bradley.

 
11 of 20

Donovan McNabb, Syracuse

Donovan McNabb, Syracuse
Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

Donovan McNabb was a walk-on for the Syracuse basketball team in the mid-1990s. He was on the team that lost to Kentucky in the 1996 national championship game. In that '96 tournament, McNabb scored two points in the first round against Montana State and played eight scoreless minutes in the Sweet 16 against Georgia.

 
12 of 20

Ryan Minor, Oklahoma

Ryan Minor, Oklahoma
Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Minor was the Big Eight Player of the Year in 1995. The Sooners went to two tournaments during Minor's time in Norman but lost in the first round both seasons. (He was the team's leading scorer in both games.) But Minor's most notable moment was that he replaced Cal Ripken Jr. at third base to end Cal's 2,632 games played streak.

 
13 of 20

Kevin Nash, Tennessee

Kevin Nash, Tennessee
Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for SCAD

Wrestler Kevin Nash had a pretty decent hoops career. He was a member of the Tennessee basketball team in the late 1970s and was the starting center for the Vols when they went to the 1979 NCAA Tournament and lost to powerful Notre Dame. He played basketball overseas before a torn ACL ended his career. However, his transition to wrestling went pretty well for him. Nash averaged just over five points and four rebounds for his college career.

 
14 of 20

Terrell Owens, Tennessee-Chattanooga

Terrell Owens, Tennessee-Chattanooga
Michael Buckner/Getty Images

Terrell Owens played three seasons for UT-Chattanooga, averaging just 1.5 points per game. He did appear in the NCAA Tournament, for just one minute against UConn in the first round of the 1995 dance. Along with football and basketball, T.O. also ran track for the university. Owens, of course, became one of the best wide receivers in NFL history and a Hall of Famer.

 
15 of 20

Julius Peppers, North Carolina

Julius Peppers, North Carolina
Jamie Squire/ALLSPORT/Getty Images

Julius Peppers is one of two players who played in both a Super Bowl and a Final Four. In the 2000 Final Four, Peppers scored two points in 16 minutes of play in North Carolina's national semifinal loss to Florida. In the 2001 tournament, he scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Penn State. Peppers became the No. 2 overall pick for the Carolina Panthers in 2002.

 
16 of 20

Antwaan Randle El, Indiana

Antwaan Randle El, Indiana
Andy Lyons /Allsport

Randle El was always a versatile football player, but did you know he played basketball for Indiana University's 1999 NCAA Tournament team? Randle El scored two points in the Hoosiers' second-round loss to Ron Artest's St. John's squad. He went on to have a nine-year NFL career with the Steelers and Redskins and was a member of Pittsburgh's Super Bowl XL championship team and became the only receiver to throw a touchdown pass in the big game.

 
17 of 20

Tim Stoddard, N.C. State

Tim Stoddard, N.C. State
Bob Olen/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images

Former MLB pitcher Tim Stoddard is the only man to win an NCAA Tournament championship (N.C. State, 1974) and a World Series ring (Orioles, 1983). Stoddard was the starting power forward on the David Thompson-led Wolfpack squad that ended UCLA's seven-year run as national champion. He played for five different franchises in his baseball career and won a World Series with Cal Ripken Jr. and the Orioles. Fun fact: Both Stoddard and Kenny Lofton went to East Chicago Washington High School.

 
18 of 20

Julius Thomas, Portland State

Julius Thomas, Portland State
Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Thomas (pictured with the ball) was on the only two Portland State teams to ever make the NCAA Tournament. One of those games was against top seed and eventual champion Kansas in 2008. In four years, Thomas averaged 6.8 points and 4.3 rebounds for the Vikings. He would go on to play seven seasons in the NFL, and he made two Pro Bowls.

 
19 of 20

Charlie Ward, Florida State

Charlie Ward, Florida State
Icon Sportswire

Charlie Ward was a two-sport star at Florida State. Ward was the 1993 Heisman Trophy winner and was on the Seminoles squad that lost to Kentucky in the Elite Eight that same year. He ended up picking basketball over football for his professional career and played 11 NBA seasons, predominately with the New York Knicks.

 
20 of 20

Dave Winfield, Minnesota

Dave Winfield, Minnesota
David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

Winfield played both baseball and basketball at the University of Minnesota and was a member of the hoops team that won the 1972 Big Ten championship. He played every minute of the Golden Gophers' first-ever NCAA Tournament game against Florida State in 1972. He was drafted by both the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and the ABA's Utah Stars.  

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