Welcome to a men's Final Four with a bit of everything.
In UConn and Purdue, we have two mighty No. 1 seeds on opposite sides of the bracket. Then we have Alabama and NC State, which earned their way here with excellent and highly watchable basketball. Whatever happens now, we will remember 2024.
Is everything that was once old new again? This Final Four has two post presences in Purdue's Zach Edey and UConn's Donovan Clingan, who are so dominant that while they're on the floor, it sometimes looks like we've turned the clock back to a time when 3s either mattered less or didn't even exist.
Throw in NC State's DJ Burns Jr., and you're looking at a trio of stars who together have combined to make four 3s all season. But what an impact these three have had.
Here are the four impact players of the 2024 Final Four.
Mark Sears, Alabama Crimson Tide
Sears has made, by far, more 3s in the tournament than any other player in the Final Four. Similarly, Alabama has made far more tournament 3s than the other teams in the national semifinals. Yet, there's more to Sears and his game than just makes from beyond the arc.
Sears is shooting 60% on his 2s over his past four outings. This success rate partly reflects the Crimson Tide's emphasis on getting all the way to the rim before attempting to score inside the arc. That kind of shooting, however, also speaks to the senior's ability to get to the tin and convert. On the year, Alabama was actually much better at making 2s, relative to the SEC averages, than it was at draining 3s.
Only now, Nate Oats' team is shooting 41% on 3s in the tournament and Sears is hitting at a 47% rate. If you've watched Alabama these past two weeks, you've seen exactly how the senior stretches opposing defenses. Many of his makes have come from well beyond the arc.
Alabama's also playing at a markedly faster pace than any other Final Four team. It customarily falls to either Sears or fellow guard Aaron Estrada to make correct decisions at high velocity and deliver the ball to the right spot.
This pace naturally increases the stats for the Tide's players. Still, it's worth noting that among remaining players, Sears is tied with a justly renowned defender like NC State's Casey Morsell for the highest number of tournament steals (seven). Alabama's star has been outstanding.
Donovan Clingan, UConn Huskies
Clingan's rim defense is unlike anything opposing offenses have faced before and their struggles have been plain to see. In the Elite Eight, Illinois recorded its second-worst shooting performance since a 1998-99 game against UConn.
The Illini went at Clingan repeatedly in an apparent attempt to draw fouls. The attempt failed: Clingan finished his evening with five blocks and one foul.
The sophomore recorded two blocks within two seconds of game time against Northwestern in the round of 32. Over the Huskies' four wins, he's blocked 15% of the 2s that opponents have attempted during his minutes. He's been able to react and get to shots even when a driver dishes to a teammate.
Needless to say, those blocks have a significant impact on the attempts that Clingan does not swat away. Stetson, Northwestern, San Diego State and Illinois combined to make a measly 37% of their 2s against UConn.
On offense, the Huskies operate without a single Edey-like featured scorer. Nevertheless, Clingan is averaging 16 points in the tournament on 69% 2-point shooting while averaging just 23 minutes.
Possibly the most impressive thing about this dominant UConn team is that the Huskies have looked equally unbeatable on offense and defense. Clingan is arguably the largest single factor driving that two-way excellence.
UConn benefits from Clingan's scoring and offensive rebounding and then he puts a lid on the basket at the other end of the floor. His impact is the primary reason why the Huskies are favored to defend their title.
DJ Burns Jr., NC State Wolfpack
Burns is a basketball event no one could have possibly envisioned in advance. Where Edey and Clingan are extreme examples of recognizable player types, Burns has created his own unique category.
We've seen outstanding passers in the post. What we haven't seen is one who's also a dominant interior scorer who (don't tell Oats) gets most of his work done on what are coded in the play-by-play as 2-point jumpers. Burns has three dunks all season.
What do you call that little flip the senior does after backing his defender down most of -- but not all -- the way to the rim? Not quite a jumper, not quite a hook, it's effective: Duke had no answer to that shot in the Elite Eight.
Burns is connecting on 67% of his 2s in the tournament while taking 29% of the Wolfpack's shots during his minutes. Those numbers sit comfortably alongside what we've seen over the past four outings from Edey: 66% and 32%, respectively. Of course, Edey then adds historically good offensive rebounding.
Well, Burns adds remarkably deft passing. Note, however, that his work in this facet of the game isn't fully captured by the box score anymore. Opponents, for the most part, have stopped double-teaming Burns. Then again, he did dish seven assists against Marquette with the Golden Eagles mostly playing straight-up D on him.
Over the past nine games, this combination of 2-point scoring and passing has made Burns a problem for the likes of the Blue Devils (twice), Virginia, the Tar Heels, Texas Tech and Marquette. Burns and the Wolfpack got the better of all of those teams. That's impact.
Zach Edey, Purdue Boilermakers
It's not easy for a reigning Wooden Award winner to take things to a new level, but that's precisely what Edey has done in the NCAA tournament. He's been relentless, and his fingerprints are on everything Purdue does.
The first Edey-related challenge for an opposing defense comes right away on most possessions. After setting an initial screen, Edey rolls to the basket. Very often Braden Smith is driving at this same instant, and even the slightest help toward the ball will result in a lob to the rim and another Edey dunk.
Then there are the traditional post feeds. Purdue's expected scoring value when Edey shoots off of one of these passes is off the charts. Two times out of three he makes the 2, and even when he doesn't either he or one of his teammates will likely grab the offensive board. No opponent in the past month has kept Purdue off the offensive glass.
Most of all, Edey's ability to draw nearly 10 fouls per 40 minutes depletes opposing frontcourts. The senior is within 20 free throw attempts of breaking the all-time record for FTAs in a season, a mark that's stood since 1954.
Stats for the entire season notwithstanding, Purdue might have the Final Four's best offense at this moment. (The way UConn is playing D, it doesn't need offense anymore.) In the tournament, the Boilermakers have hit 58% of their 2s while rebounding 43% of their misses and, of course, going to the line virtually at will. That's close to unstoppable. That's Edey.