March Madness continues for these Bradenton basketball players

After a crazy, unpredictable first weekend to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the dream to winning a national title is still alive for five IMG Academy alums.

A total of 11 former IMG basketball players represented Manatee County in the NCAA tournament.

Now just five are still competing as the Sweet 16 takes place Thursday and Friday.

Trevon Duval (Duke), Silvio De Sousa (Kansas), Daxter Miles Jr. (West Virginia), Travis Light (Florida State) and Tommy Hamilton (Texas Tech) each played in Bradenton for the Ascenders.

Although no IMG alum had a more remarkable affiliation with a tournament team than David Park. The freshman plays at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC), which pulled off the tournament’s biggest upset in history last Friday. The Retrievers became the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in tourney history, when they defeated Virginia, the tournament’s overall top seed, 74-54.

Kansas State eliminated UMBC in Sunday’s second round.

Other IMG Academy alums that saw their college seasons end during a brutal opening weekend to March Madness were Kerem Kanter (Xavier), KJ Smith (North Carolina), Lamonte Turner (Tennessee), Nikola Akele (Rhode Island) and Isaiah Stokes (Florida).

In the women’s tournament, IMG Academy alums Rellah Boothe, Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau and Khaleann Caron-Goudreau are in the Sweet 16 for Texas. Lakewood Ranch High alumnus LaDazhia Williams is with South Carolina, the defending national champions, in another Sweet 16.

Now here are the other Hometown Heroes this week:

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

The Lakewood Ranch High alumnus is an NFL free agent, though he’s reportedly not going to make a decision on where he’ll sign until sometime in April. The New York Giants released the veteran cornerback on March 11, and that led to Rodgers-Cromartie having a meeting with the Washington Redskins, according to the Washington Post.

DRC spent part of his offseason donating $20,000 to Immokalee High School through his DRC Foundation. The donation covered the athletic budget’s shortfall due to lost football games from Hurricane Irma last fall. Immokalee was one of the areas Irma hit the hardest in September 2017.

On stage with Rodgers-Cromartie was former NFL running back Edgerrin James, who played at Immokalee High and the University of Miami before his NFL career.

Knowledge McDaniel

The Braden River High junior continues to receive Power-5 football offers. The latest was from Big Ten school Purdue University last Friday.

The Boilermakers have landed Manatee County talent before. Former Southeast High quarterback John Reeves played for Purdue in the 1990s, beginning his career at quarterback before moving to defensive back and linebacker toward the end of his Boilermakers career.

Purdue was the fifth Big Ten program to offer McDaniel, a wide receiver/running back. Indiana was the first on May 5, 2017. Since then, Rutgers (May 12, 2017), Nebraska (Jan. 22) and Ohio State (March 1) each offered him.

Purdue’s interest makes 18 offers for McDaniel, a three-star recruit on Rivals.com.

Lakewood Ranch softball

The Mustangs are the No. 1 ranked softball team out of all Florida classifications in the latest Miracle Sports poll. The ranking comes on the heels of Lakewood Ranch winning the inaugural Oakleaf HighTournament of Champions in Orange Park. The Mustangs blasted Monticello Aucilla Christian, 11-0, in the championship.

Matt Mackey

The Bradenton native is hitting .333 with three home runs, 17 RBIs and 14 runs scored in 20 games for Metropolitan Community College-Maple Woods (Kansas City, Mo.) this season. Mackey, a sophomore, played high school baseball at Inspiration Academy and football at Manatee High.

C.J. Alexander

State College of Florida’s sophomore third baseman was named the Florida College System Activities Association’s (FCSAA) Player of the Week for March 12-18. Alexander went 11-for-16 at the plate with three doubles, two home runs, seven RBIs and eight runs scored. During the stretch, which included four multi-hit games for Alexander, the Manatees won all four games they played. SCF entered Wednesday’s game at St. Petersburg College on a seven-game winning streak and a 25-7-1 record.

This story was originally published March 21, 2018 at 12:48 PM with the headline "March Madness continues for these Bradenton basketball players."