Former Formula One driver Alex Zanardi, who lost both legs in a racing crash and went on to win Paralympic gold medals, has died at the age of 59, his family said on Saturday, May 2.

Zanardi, from Bologna, made his F1 debut in 1991 and later achieved success in the CART series in the United States, winning back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998.

His life took a dramatic turn in September 2001 when he was involved in a high-speed crash during a CART race in Germany that led to the amputation of both legs.

Zanardi refused to end his sporting career and instead turned to para-cycling, becoming one of Italy’s most successful Paralympic athletes.

He won four gold medals and two silver medals at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Games.

“It is with deep sorrow that the family announces the passing of Alessandro Zanardi, which occurred suddenly yesterday evening, 1 May,” his family said in a statement.

“Alex passed away peacefully, surrounded by the love of his family and friends.

“The family would like to express their heartfelt thanks to all those who are showing their support at this time and asks that their grief and privacy be respected during this period of mourning.”

Zanardi also claimed 12 World Championship gold medals in para-cycling and became a powerful advocate for athletes with disabilities and a source of inspiration for many.

His life suffered another blow in 2020 when he was seriously injured after being struck by a truck while competing in a charity para-cycling relay in Tuscany.

He sustained serious head injuries and spent years undergoing treatment.

“Italy loses a great champion and an extraordinary man, capable of turning every trial of life into a lesson in courage, strength, and dignity,” Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said.

“Alex Zanardi knew how to get back in the game every time, facing even the toughest challenges with determination, clarity, and a strength of spirit that was truly exceptional.”

The International Automobile Federation said Zanardi’s journey had “made him one of sport’s most admired competitors and an enduring symbol of courage and determination.”

F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali remembered Zanardi for his “extraordinary strength”.

“He faced challenges that would have stopped anyone, yet he continued to look forward, always with a smile and a stubborn determination that inspired us all. While his loss is profoundly felt, his legacy remains strong,” he added.

The Italian Olympic Committee called for a minute’s silence at all sports events in Italy over the weekend in his honour.

“We’ve lost a great champion and a great man, who was capable of bouncing back multiple times when faced with life’s difficulties,” CONI president Luciano Buonfiglio said.

Golden Tempo crossed the finish line Saturday at Churchill Downs, winning the 152nd Kentucky Derby and immediately turning attention to a question that has gone unanswered for eight years: Can he win the Triple Crown? 

That starts in two weeks with The Preakness Stakes. 

The last horse to win the Triple Crown – the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes – was Justify in 2018. Since then, seven consecutive Kentucky Derby winners have failed to complete the sweep. Four of those horses never even tried, skipping the Preakness Stakes entirely.  

Last year’s winner, Sovereignty, trained by Bill Mott, bypassed the Preakness just days after winning the Derby, citing the horse’s long-term interests. Since 2019, four Kentucky Derby winners have not raced in the Preakness, a shift driven by modern training strategies that prioritize spacing races further apart. Sovereignty went on to win the Belmont Stakes and earned Horse of the Year honors, validating Mott’s decision, but also deepening the debate about whether the Triple Crown format needs to change.  

The question now is whether Golden Tempo’s connections will take the shot.  

When is the Preakness? Triple Crown race schedule

If they do, the Preakness is May 16, just two weeks after the Derby. For the first time in the race’s history, it will be held at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland, while its traditional home at Pimlico Race Course undergoes a $400 million renovation. Post positions will be drawn May 11. 

If Golden Tempo can win that, the Belmont Stakes awaits on June 6 at Saratoga Racecourse in Saratoga Springs, New York. The 158th Belmont Stakes will again be run at 1 ¼ miles rather than its traditional 1 ½ miles due to Saratoga’s track configuration. There is a $2 million purse on the line in the third and final Belmont Stakes to be held in Saratoga. The newly rebuilt Belmont Park is set to reopen in September of 2026.  

The Triple Crown is one of the hardest achievements in American sports. Only 13 horses have won it in all of racing history. Sir Barton became the first Triple Crown winner in 1919, though the term itself did not come into common usage until 1930. Sportswriter Charles Hatton coined the phrase after Gallant Fox swept all three races. The most recent winners are American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. The three-year gap was a surprise, considering the 37-year drought between Affirmed in 1978 and American Pharoah.  

There have been voices in the sport calling for a new schedule, which would make it easier for horses to compete in the Triple Crown. After Sovereignty won the Preakness in 2025, owner Mike Repole proposed moving the Belmont to second in the Triple Crown order to keep more top horses in the series. 

HOUSTON — Kevin Durant’s first Houston Rockets season did not go as intended.

On Friday night at Toyota Center, while his teammates attempted to force a decisive Game 7 against the Los Angeles Lakers, Durant sat on the bench in street clothes with a sprained left ankle. He could only watch as the Lakers shifted into cruise control and the Rockets staggered toward the end of their season.

When the final buzzer sounded on the Lakers’ 98-78 win, the Rockets were right back where they were at the end of last season: exiting the playoffs in the first round.

In Houston’s locker room after the game, players exchanged hugs and gifted each other jerseys, relics of a season that failed to meet the raised expectations set when the Rockets traded last summer for Durant, who was injured for all but one playoff game against the Lakers.

The Rockets have suffered first-round playoff exits in back-to-back seasons, both in series where coach Ime Udoka said it felt like his team “got behind the eight ball.”

Against the Lakers, who were missing Luka Doncic, the Rockets lost the first three games – two without Durant – but avoided elimination by winning the next two games to force the series back to Houston for Game 6. Friday’s blowout 20-point loss was the Rockets’ lowest-scoring game of the season and among the lowest-scoring playoff games in franchise history.

Udoka highlighted the growth of Houston’s young core, including the group that started the last three games of the series against the Lakers – Alperen Şengün, Amen Thompson, Reed Sheppard, Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason – and said he was proud of his team’s resilience to battle back in the series. But he also acknowledged that change is necessary going forward.

“We do need to address some needs,” Udoka said. “The lack of shooting at times, whether it’s a backup point guard or our young guys did enough this year to kind of run that with Fred (VanVleet) back. And so we’ll take a look at all those things, I think, and have some very interesting conversations on having a little bit of more of a mix instead of some duplicates out there.”

The Rockets’ fate this season was accompanied by plenty of hypotheticals. What if Durant had been healthy in the playoffs? What if the Rockets had not lost VanVleet, their starting point guard, and center Steven Adams to injuries earlier in the season?

Şengün said none of those questions crossed his mind in the dying moments of Houston’s season.

“We cannot think about (that) stuff. Whoever is in the court, we fight with them,” Şengün said. “Losing them, it wasn’t good, but you stay with it. The goal is always same: just fight, go to the end. We did it with the young guys, including myself in the young guys, too.”

In the end, the Rockets’ main issues boiled down to offense. In the playoff series against the Lakers, Houston shot 46.2% from the field in its two wins and 38.6% in its four losses. The Game 3 loss was particularly excruciating, a last-minute meltdown that felt achingly familiar to anyone who watched the Rockets struggle throughout the season to execute at the end of games.

In Game 6, the Rockets didn’t grab offensive rebounds at their typical rate and reverted to bad habits that plagued them earlier in the season. When the Lakers switched, the Rockets failed to create advantages and became stagnant. The ball stuck. Isolation play prevailed.

“It’s a team thing. It’s not any blame to them (players) or myself,” Udoka said. “It’s a little combination of both, no doubt, understanding what works for us, what’s worked well, and then not deviating from that. So on me to get them into the sets, on them to run them and do the things we worked on leading into the series.”

Udoka reportedly signed a six-year contract extension last summer. Udoka said he and Rockets general manager Rafael Stone will sit down “ASAP” to discuss the roster.

The Rockets have eight players under contract for next season, including Durant, but the team has plenty of decisions to make this summer. Thompson is extension-eligible ahead of his fourth NBA season while Eason, who was drafted by the Rockets with the 17th overall pick in 2022, will become a restricted free agent this offseason.

“I was drafted here, I’ve grown up here, my family’s here,” Eason said. “I love Houston. As far as everything else, God knows.”

When the Rockets were eliminated by the Golden State Warriors in last season’s playoffs, it was clear that Houston lacked a go-to scorer to catalyze the offense. Durant was brought in to solve that problem. This season, it’s not as easy to identify one main area of need, Smith said.

“I ain’t gonna say we need to make a trade or go out and get somebody, you know what I’m saying? I just think everything we need is in house,” Smith said. “Everything that we need is on the bench, coaching us. Everything we need is on the bench behind us, coaching. I think we got it all, but it’s just on us to not have those mental lapses where we lose leads in the fourth quarter early in the season, where you have random three-game losses and stuff like that.”

He continued, “I think maturity’s a big part of it but I think if everybody’s going into the offseason and do what they’ve been doing – that’s improving every year, get better, come back a little smarter, come back a little stronger, a little older – I think everything we need is in house right in front of us.”

Whether the Rockets decide to run it back or go for a major change, the sting of how the season ended is sure to linger.

“Back-to-back first-round exits, it’s just – it’s rough,” Thompson said. “It’s motivation, for sure. I feel like I’m going to be thinking about this all summer.”

You’re going to pick the Kentucky Derby winner this year.

We all are.

All we need to do is find the right clue, or the right system, or the right expert.

Will the winner be determined, or divined, by the horse’s name, silk colors or jockey? (You could do worse than “Big Money” Mike Smith, the Hall-of-Famer who will be riding So Happy.)

Or will the winner emerge from the Beyer Speed Figures, a rating system devised by journalist and handicapper Andrew Beyer. (If so, your horse is Further Ado, whose 106 Beyer Speed Figure from the Blue Grass Stakes last month is the highest in the field.)

Or maybe you got a connection to Bill Benter, the former physicist whose computer algorithm has reportedly earned him $1 billion in horse betting.

But with time running out, our focus is on four handicappers.

The importance of horse psychology

Kerry M. Thomas, an equine behavior specialist, studies racehorses in search of something most bettors probably overlook.

The horse’s psychological profile. Preferably one that can help withstand the rigors of racing.

“I really don’t look at anything physical before I look at anything psychological because the physical data can trick you,” Thomas told USA TODAY Sports. “Just look at how it is with human athletes. If you can’t handle the stress, I don’t care how talented you are.”

Stress is Inevitable during the Kentucky Derby, with up to 20 horses racing, often in close quarters. Then what kicks in his bachelor herd mentality, when those 20 horses break into several miniature herds, according to Thomas.

“The field (of horses) breaks into pieces mentally,” he said. “It looks like a big massive chaos, but psychologically that doesn’t matter at all, because when they get to moving, they’re going to pick out one or two dudes that they’re going to go with or fight with.”

The dynamics test a horse’s psychology, and an understanding the psychological profile of the horses can lead Thomas to his pick for the Kentucky Derby winner: So Happy.

“He’s on this really good emerging psychological growth pattern,” Thomas explained, “seasoning in the right direction at the right time.”

Data-driven handicapping

About a decade ago, Alexa Zepp said she attended her first horse betting contest as a guest.  Soon she was hooked.

“I got pretty good at it and started traveling all over the country, competing in these tournaments,” Zepp, 30, told USA TODAY Sports. “And yeah, I did pretty good. I was able to put a down payment on my house and get a hot tub from gambling winnings.”

Her full-time gig is with America’s Best Racing with a focus on sponsorships and broadcast.  But she’s still committed to handicapping

“I’m a data-driven person,” she said. “I have a (computer) program that I use, my own algorithm program for racing that takes all kinds of factors into consideration, thousands of factors about all the horses.”

She said she also reads the Daily Racing Form.

“I know a lot of people bet jockeys, but I undervalue who’s riding,” Zepp said. “I look more at pedigree and distance in my program.”

Like Thomas, Zepp also takes herd mentality into consideration as she settles on her Kentucky Derby pick: So Happy.

“So Happy is going to be fairly forwardly placed and has tactical speed and deal with whatever comes,” Zepp said.

The telltale stride

Maggie Wolfendale said there’s a unique challenge to handicapping horse races.

“Horses can’t speak to us, so we have to try to read them,” she told USA TODAY Sports.

The daughter of a trainer, Wolfendale, 39, is a paddock analyst and host for the New York Racing Association. That means much of her work takes place in the paddock, where the horses are stabled and paraded before heading to the starting gate.

“A lot can be read by what their coat looks like,” Wolfendale said. “I often talk about dapples, which are like the round things on horses that just indicate good internal health, how rich and hydrated they look. Obviously they’re athletes, you want them to be hydrated. And you also look for fitness levels, how defined they look, how strong they look.”

When handicapping the Kentucky Derby and classic distance races, Wolfendale said, she pays close attention to something else, too.

“Usually it’s about horses that have long strides,” she said. “I would say is what it all boils down to.”

And that leads her to Further Ado, Wolfendale’s pick to win the Kentucky Derby.

“Just has a massive stride,” she said.

The Haiku Handicapper

Joe Nevills, the Haiku Handicapper, has picked his Kentucky Derby winner: Danon Bourbon, a Kentucky-bred horse stabled in Japan.

But it’s too early to get to the poetry, with Nevills, 39, confessing, “I don’t feel great about” the pick.

What Nevills likes: Danon Bourbon is bred for classic distance, with American bloodlines “leaning toward distance acumen.” Also, in Japan horses run in very deep sand. “So running 1 ¼ miles on the firmer dirt course at Churchill Downs should be like running on an Olympic track after training on the beach,” Nevills said.

What Nevills likes less: The underwhelming level of competition Danon Bourbon has faced. Using a college sports analogy, Nevills suggested the horse from Japan could be a MAC champion ready for a Big Ten beatdown.

“Do you see why I have to do these in haiku?” said Nevills, bloodstock editor for the Paulick Report.

For each Kentucky Derby entrant, Nevills writes a haiku poems – a Japanese poem consisting of 17 syllables in lines of five, seven, and five syllables.

Japanese horse. Japanese poem.

Gets stronger in stretchAmerican classic bloodThis could be the year

And dear reader, this could be your year.

The Cincinnati Reds pitching staff accomplished something Saturday that hadn’t been done in more than 40 years.

Two Reds pitchers walked seven consecutive Pittsburgh Pirates hitters in the second inning of a May 2 game at PNC Park, tying an MLB record and turning what was already a rough afternoon into a historically bad day.  

Starter Rhett Lowder and reliever Connor Phillips combined to walk seven consecutive Pirates with one out in the second inning. That included issuing the final four walks with the bases loaded. Between them, they threw 42 pitches and only 11 for strikes, according to MLB.com.  

Lowder struck out leadoff hitter Oneil Cruz and then it went off the rails from there.

Lowder issued the first three walks before being pulled for Phillips. He came in with the bases loaded and walked four in a row, each one forcing in a run. Reliever Sam Moll finally stopped the bleeding. Entering the game with the bases loaded, he got both catcher Henry Davis and Cruz, batting for the second time that inning, to ground out.  

After that inning, the Pirates led 10-3.

The MLB record for consecutive walks had last been set on May 25, 1983, when the Pirates walked seven consecutive Atlanta Braves batters. One of the pitchers that day happened to be named Bob Walk. On April 27, 1994, the Seattle Mariners walked six in a row, hit a batter and then walked the next batter in a 12-2 loss to the Yankees.  

The Reds entered play Saturday having walked 11.6% of batters they faced this season, which was the fifth highest in baseball. Saturday, they showed just how much they struggle with the strike zone.  

Lowder, 24, came in 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA, which ballooned to 5.09 after that inning. Phillips had been one of the more reliable arms in Cincinnati’s bullpen before Saturday’s outing. He had walked just 15 in 17 appearances before Saturday.  

One of the most exciting moments for a basketball franchise is if they learn they have won the NBA draft lottery, especially when it’s unexpected.

Lottery odds formatting have changed several times since the system began in 1985 when the New York Knicks selected Patrick Ewing. In the future, the format might change again to help prevent tanking from league bottom-dwellers.

The upcoming 2026 NBA Draft Lottery is on May 10 in Chicago and will determine which teams will have a chance to draft top prospects like AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson and Caleb Wilson.

14 teams will have a chance at No. 1 overall and with that in mind, here are all of the lottery winners who received the pick despite less than 10 percent odds.

1. Orlando Magic (1993)

Player: Chris Webber

Record: 41-41

Odds: 1.52% (11th)

This pick was included in a trade to the Golden State Warriors involving Penny Hardaway and future first-round picks.

2. Chicago Bulls (2008)

Player: Derrick Rose

Record: 33-49

Odds: 1.70% (9th)

Rose, who is originally from Chicago, was named 2009 NBA Rookie of the Year and won NBA MVP in 2011.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers (2014)

Player: Andrew Wiggins

Record: 33-49

Odds: 1.70% 9th

Before his rookie season, he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a deal involving Kevin Love. He was named 2015 NBA Rookie of the Year.

4. Dallas Mavericks (2025)

Player: Cooper Flagg

Record: 39-43

Odds: 1.80% (11th)

This was shortly after Luka Dončić was sent to the Los Angeles Lakers for a trade involving Anthony Davis. Flagg was recently named 2026 NBA Rookie of the Year.

5. Los Angeles Clippers (2011)

Player: Kyrie Irving

Record: 32-50

Odds: 2.80% (8th)

Before the draft, the Clippers traded the rights to this pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Irving was named 2012 NBA Rookie of the Year and won a championship with the Cavaliers in 2016.

6. Atlanta Hawks (2024)

Player: Zaccharie Risacher

Record: 36-46

Odds: 3.00% (10th)

Risacher was named first-team NBA All-Rookie and is a contributor for the Hawks in the 2026 NBA postseason.

7. New Jersey Nets (2000)

Player: Kenyon Martin

Record: 31-52

Odds: 4.40% (7th)

Martin played four seasons for the Nets, earning an NBA All-Star nod in 2004.

8. Portland Trail Blazers (2007)

Player: Greg Oden

Record: 32-50

Odds: 5.30% (7th)

The big man was selected one pick before Kevin Durant and he played just three seasons in the NBA.

9. New Orleans Pelicans (2019)

Player: Zion Williamson

Record: 33-49

Odds: 6.00% (7th)

This pick was shortly after the Pelicans traded Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers. Williamson is a two-time NBA All-Star who has not yet made the playoffs.

10. Milwaukee Bucks (2005)

Player: Andrew Bogut

Record: 30-52

Odds: 6.30% (6th)

The Australian big man was named first-team NBA All-Rookie and played for the Bucks for seven seasons.

11. Toronto Raptors (2006)

Player: Andrea Bargnani

Record: 27-55

Odds: 8.80% (5th)

The Italian forward was named first-team NBA All-Rookie and played for the Raptors for seven seasons.

12. Houston Rockets (2002)

Player: Yao Ming

Record: 28-54

Odds: 8.90% (5th)

The Chinese big man played eight seasons for the Rockets and made the NBA All-Star team each campaign.

13. Golden State Warriors (1995)

Player: Joe Smith

Record: 26-56

Odds: 9.40% (5th)

Smith made first-team NBA All-Rookie and was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers midway through his third season with the Warriors.

The biggest stories, every morning. Stay up-to-date on all the key sports developments by subscribing to USA TODAY Sports’ newsletter.

Nearly five months after a plane crash killed seven people including a NASCAR legend, two lawsuits have been filed in connection to the tragedy in North Carolina.

Former race car driver Greg Biffle, his wife Cristina Biffle, their 5-year-old son Ryder and Greg Biffle’s daughter Emma, 14, died after the Cessna C550 jet crashed in Statesville on Dec. 18. Dennis Rollin Dutton, his son Jack Dutton and his employee and friend Craig Wadsworth also died in the late morning crash near the Statesville Regional Airport, about 45 miles north of Charlotte.

Filed in Iredell County Superior Court on behalf of the Dutton estate, the lawsuits each seek $15 million in damages, according to court documents obtained by ESPN and local station WBTV.

According to the suits, the outlets reported Biffle owned the Cessna 550 plane that crashed, and was “responsible for maintenance, operation and safety.”

USA TODAY has requested a copy of the suit, and reached out to the attorney representing the Dutton family.

What caused the plane crash that killed Greg Biffle?

The official cause of the crash remained under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on May 1.

The plane was bound for Florida but attempted to return to the regional airport soon after takeoff in severe weather, according to FlightAware, which tracks flight paths and previous USA TODAY reporting.

The aircraft was registered to a company tied to Biffle, and according to an autopsy obtained by USA TODAY, Dutton, an experienced pilot, is presumed to have piloted the plane at the time of the crash.

According to the preliminary NTSB report Jack Dutton was sitting in the co-pilot seat, and was assisting when the plane crashed, but wasn’t qualified to fly the plane.

Where did the plane crash happen?

The crash took place around 10:15 a.m. ET while the pilot attempted to land at the airport, about 40 miles north of Charlotte, according to local officials and the Federal Aviation Administration.

NTSB senior accident investigator Dan Baker said the jet took off from runway 2A and was in the air 10 minutes before it crashed and struck a set of trees and a runway fence before coming to rest.

Anyone who saw the plane crash, or with video of the crash, is asked to contact NTSB via email at witness@ntsb.gov.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund

One of the features of the transfer portal is players from smaller schools and conferences get to prove themselves at the mid-major level and earn an opportunity to step up a level of competition.

Michigan’s MVP Yaxel Lendeborg was a mid-major find from UAB. Oscar Cluff went from South Dakota State to Purdue and was a key cog for the Boilermakers. Robert Morris transfer Alvaro Folgueiras was a March star for Iowa.

You get the idea.

So who is next in line to take their big game to a bigger stage?

College basketball transfer portal best pickups from mid-major schools

Cruz Davis, Texas Tech (Hofstra)

Texas Tech landed its Christian Anderson replacement in former Hofstra guard Cruz Davis, the CAA Player of the Year in 2026. Davis averaged 20.1 points with 4.7 assists last season, and was No. 37 in USA TODAY Sports’ transfer portal player rankings before committing.

The Plano, Texas product fared well vs Power conference teams last season, scoring 17 vs. UCF, 36 vs. Pitt and 22 vs. Syracuse, and will be a key piece to Grant McCasland’s Red Raiders reload without Anderson gone and JT Toppin coming back from an ACL injury.

Paulius Murauskas, Arizona State (Saint Mary’s)

The 6-8 Lithuanian was ranked No. 7 in USA TODAY Sports’ portal player rankings after averaging 18.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game for a 27-win Saint Mary’s team last season. Unsurprisingly, the first-team All-West Coast Conference pick followed former Gaels coach Randy Bennett to Arizona State, where he was hired to replace Bobby Hurley.

Alex Wilkins, Kentucky (Furman)

From a zero-star recruit to Big Blue Nation in the span of a year. Wilkins had a standout freshman season for the Southern Conference champions and led the league in field goals made. The 6-5 guard averaged a team-high 17.8 points and 4.7 assists per game. In the NCAA Tournament, the No. 28 player in USA TODAY Sports’ portal rankings showed he could compete against elite competition, scoring 21 points in a competitive game against eventual national runner-up UConn. With three years of eligibility, he’ll be more than just a quick rental, which will help Mark Pope try to find some much-needed stability in Lexington.

Ryan Sabol, Providence (Buffalo)

If Lundblade was one of the top available shooters in the portal, Sabol quite possibly was the top shooter available in the portal. Sabol’s 3.8 made 3s per game were third-most in the nation, and he did so at 39.9% clip.

He averaged 18.8 points per game and had 14 games where he hit at least five 3-pointers. He’ll be a good fit for Bryan Hodgson’s system in Providence. Hodgson’s South Florida team led the American Conference in scoring last season and was second in the league in made 3s.

Tyler Lundblade, Tennessee (Belmont)

The reigning Missouri Valley Conference player of the year was one of the top shooters available in the portal and fills a clear need for the Vols, who need to replace their top six scorers from this past season. The former walk-on made 40.6% of his 3-pointers despite having a high shooting volume, with 8.8 attempts per game from beyond the arc. Tennessee’s top returning 3-point shooters (Ethan Burg and Troy Henderson) had 15 makes all season.

Terrence Hill Jr., Tennessee (VCU)

Let’s stay on Rocky Top. The sophomore had a breakout season in 2025-26, averaging 15 points a game on 46.6% shooting. He showed he won’t be scared by brand names after scoring 34 points against North Carolina in the Rams’ first round in the NCAA Tournament.

Hill only started two games for VCU last season, but beginning in January, he routinely played 30-plus minutes, providing a spark off the bench.

Drew Scharnowski, Duke (Belmont)

Duke had a clear need in the post with Cameron Boozer headed for the NBA Draft lottery and Maliq Brown out of eligibility. The 6-9 Scharnowski could slot alongside returning Blue Devils center Patrick Ngongba II or provide valuable frontcourt depth. A first-team All-MVC pick, Scharnowski was the No. 50 player in USA TODAY’s portal rankings after averaging 10.7 points, six rebounds and 2.6 assists per game as a sophomore for a Belmont team that went 26-6. He was a strong presence down low, too, with 1.3 blocks per game. At the start of the portal process, the prevailing thought was Scharnowski would follow former Belmont coach Casey Alexander to Kansas State. The big man set his sights higher and will test himself in the Blue Devils crucible.

Tyrone Riley IV, Oregon (San Francisco)

Riley will get plenty of run as the Ducks return just one player from last season’s roster.

The 6-6 junior wing has 65 starts under his belt and averaged 12.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and one steal a game last season for the Dons. He shot 47.2% from the field and 36.8% from 3 on his way to a second-team All-WCC selection.

In games against Power conference foes Minnesota, Colorado and Mississippi State (OK, maybe not a murderer’s row), Riley averaged 14 ppg, and he put up 17 points on Saint Louis and 16 vs. Gonzaga.

Jaquan Johnson, Iowa State (Bradley)

How would Iowa State replace Tamin Lipsey? The Cyclones point guard started all 137 games he played for ISU and left as the school’s all-time steals leader and fourth in career assists.

Enter, Johnson. About as seamless of a fit as you could hope for if you’re the Cyclones. He took an enormous leap from his freshman to his sophomore season, improving his scoring average from 6.6 to 16.9 points per game to help him earn first-team All-MVC honors, MVC most improved player and all-defensive team honors (thanks to his 2.6 steals per game).

He is only 5-11, which could cause some problems against bigger, more athletic competition in a major conference, but his all-around production is impressive, with 3.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists.

Gavin Doty, Syracuse (Siena)

Doty is following Gerry McNamara from Siena to Syracuse and did just about everything he could to try to pull off a stunning 16-over-1 upset over Duke in the NCAA Tournament, scoring a team-high 21 points in a 71-65 first-round loss. The 6-5 sophomore led the Saints in scoring at 18 points per game and was an excellent rebounder for someone his size, pulling down a team-high 6.9 boards per game.

He won’t be an unknown to McNamara, and his near-immediate commitment to the Orange says a lot about his coach’s belief that Doty can scale up from the MAAC to the ACC.