It’s finally time for March Madness, a time when Cinderellas reign supreme. But for every Cinderella in March, there is an evil stepmother wreaking havoc on the tournament. Villainous behavior is all over college basketball, and while it may not affect winning or losing games, it surely affects how you watch and react during games. Here are the four biggest villains in the tournament.
1. Grayson Allen
If this list was broken into tiers, Duke sophomore guard Grayson Allen would be in a tier of his own. Allen is the quintessential Duke Villain. He is fiery, aggressive, undersized for his position, white and occasionally dirty. Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and J.J. Redick are all probably proud of Allen for his play, but if you don’t root for the team that wears blue and white and plays in Durham, N.C., then you probably don’t like Allen.
Allen most notably intentionally tripped two different players this season.
And if these dirty plays weren’t enough, Allen scored 666 points in the regular season, so take that how you will.
2. Diamond Stone
The idiom “diamond in the rough” is very fitting for Maryland freshman forward Diamond Stone. It’s fitting in that the idiom typically refers to someone who lacks manners or class and has a rough exterior, but yet possess good qualities. But ask any Wisconsin fan and they would say Stone has no good qualities. He might be a good basketball player, but he spurred UW for Maryland and is likely going to the NBA Draft this spring. Most notably, he slammed Wisconsin forward Vitto Brown’s head into the court after wrestling him down. Pretty villainous if you ask me.
Stone is probably the most hated player in the tournament to most Madison residents, but don’t be surprised if an unnecessary physical outburst leads to him being a villain of the tournament to every fan base.
3. Perry Ellis’ Hairline
Kansas center Perry Ellis’ hairline might be the most talked about part of this Jayhawks team, and it’s one of the few things people can hate about the big man’s look. While all this Kansas team seems to do is improve, all the senior center’s hairline does is recede. As a result, Ellis’ lack of hair follicles has opened the 22-year-old up to a plethora of jokes.
Perry Ellis first coach at Kansas, throwback to freshman year pic.twitter.com/JF9JRZlSx7
— Sam Laird (@samcmlaird) November 18, 2015
Perry Ellis social security number is in Roman Numerals.
— Mike Sloan™ (@MikeSloan01) November 18, 2015
The only way Perry Ellis is still playing pic.twitter.com/FNOCbHTTJ0
— Riley Creamer (@RileyCreamer) November 18, 2015
Wikipedia has Perry Ellis listed as 73 years old. pic.twitter.com/NlsiVC6ZCr
— Things #BBN Likes (@ThingsBBNLikes) November 18, 2015
Ellis will hope to dominate on the court this weekend, but his hair will likely cover him and overshadow anything he does well.
4. Marcus Lee
There are a lot of reasons to hate players on Kentucky. Its coach is overly braggadocious. They are more like an NBA development factory than a true college team. And Drake has jumped on their bandwagon.
On the surface, though, Lee hasn’t done any of those things. The 6-foot-9 junior forward was not a one and done player like so many of his teammates, and Lee again broke the Kentucky stereotype, being named to the SEC Community Service Team in 2014-’15 for his accomplishments away from the court.
But on the court, Lee is a big, bruising center. While that alone doesn’t constitute entry to this list, saying Lee is bruising is an understatement.
He has fouled out eight times this season, which leads the Wildcats. And that’s saying something, as the Wildcats have had more disqualifications than other team in the tournament.
Lee as a result is merely the scapegoat for a team that many hope gets disqualified early in the tournament.
