As we advance into the month of March without an NCAA Tournament to watch, we find ourselves reflecting on the anniversaries of ever-deeper runs by former Boston Celtics in the greatest of all college sporting events.
And as part of our effort to fill that basketball-sized hole in our lives with the NBA and NCAA tourney suspended due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, that’s exactly what we’ve been up to at the Celtics Wire.
We’ve dug up all of the best of Boston’s 12 players with at least one appearance in the Big Dance to help you pass the time as you hole up for the long haul so we can send the coronavirus packing.
March 20th is a day that saw two current Celtics play three games in NCAA Tournaments past — former Butler forward Gordon Hayward, and ex-Pitt Panther Brad Wanamaker.
The latter played two games exactly one year apart, the first of the two games a first-round matchup with Oral Robert in the 2008 tourney.
The Panthers gave the Golden Eagles a thrashing to remember, sending their opponents home with a 82-63 win.
At the time, the point guard was still a reserve, and only scored 2 rebounds and an assist in 5 minutes of playing time.
The following year, the Panthers beat East Tennessee State 72-62 in the round of 64.
Wanamaker — still a reserve — fared a bit better against the Buccaneers, putting up 4 points, 4 boards, an assist, a steal and a block.
Hayward, on the other hand, only played once on this date, in a 54-52 squeaker against the Murray State Racers in the round of 32 on the Indiana native’s way to the 2010 national title game.
The future All-Star would score a solid 12-point, 7-board stat line that earned his Bulldogs the right to take on the Syracuse Orangemen in the Sweet Sixteen.
[lawrence-related id=31172,31067,31034,30969]