Against All Odds: Three Walk-On Stories That Changed March Madness

Unsung Heroes

BetUS already has many of the NCAA championship betting lines available, including Final 4, championship, and even conference futures. These betting odds reflect the current state of affairs in the college hoops world, but the March Madness odds 2025 are dynamic, so the favorite today may be a long shot on Selection Sunday.

Although there will undoubtedly be heroic performances by big players who come off the bench and spark memorable comebacks, our focus is on three players who went from unknown walk-ons to tournament heroes when it counted the most. Considering only 1.2% of walk-ons get any real playing time, the odds are most assuredly stacked against these underdogs.

Below we pay homage to three college basketball athletes whose March Madness performances are etched in tournament lore.

Cameron Mills: Kentucky’s Local Legend (Kentucky, 1998)

A Kentucky boy through and through, Mills had scholarship offers coming out of high school at programs like Georgia but when given the chance to make Rick Pitino’s Wildcats squad as a walk-on, he couldn’t say no.

Happy birthday to Cameron Mills, whose first basket of the 1998 NCAA Tournament completed a 17-point second half comeback in Kentucky’s 86-84 win over Duke to send the Wildcats to its third straight Final Four and its second national championship in three years. pic.twitter.com/X0mFvCWKn4

— catsclassics (@catsclassics) December 10, 2024

With little playing time in his first few years, injuries to starting players proved fortuitous for Mills, and he began to see action. The kid whose dad played at Kentucky decades earlier was making a name for himself as a three-point assassin, and it all culminated in a critical shot from beyond the arc in 1998’s Elite Eight matchup against Duke when the ball effortlessly tumbled from his fingertips to the basket.

Mills was unconscious throughout the tournament, hitting a stunning 63% of his three-point attempts (17-of-27), and “The Shot Heard Round the Bluegrass” propelled the Cardiac Cats to an 86-84 victory over Duke. The walk-on nobody knew was now and forever the toast of Lexington.

Jeff Hornacek: From Walk-On to NBA Star (Iowa State, 1986)

Entering Iowa State, Jeff Hornacek was a 145-pound nobody who became a First-team All-Big Eight in 1986 and set the Big Eight assists record in the process. He guided the Cyclones to their first national tournament victory since 1944 with the game-tying basket followed by a 26-foot buzzer-beating, game-winning overtime jump shot against Miami. Two days later, Hornacek was instrumental in a stunning upset of No. 2 seed Michigan in the Sweet Sixteen.

Jeff Hornacek. Iowa State Cyclones. pic.twitter.com/6t4YO9c6lY https://t.co/0hC0Lf1cjy

— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) August 8, 2024

But the lanky kid from Elmhurst, Illinois, was far from finished. He would go on to have his No. 14 jersey retired at Iowa State before being chosen in the second round of the 1986 draft by Phoenix. Hornacek was an All-Star selection in 1992 as a member of the 76ers before making his mark as an integral part of the Utah Jazz teams of the mid-90s, where his jersey was ultimately hung to the rafters.

Blake Smith: The Modern Walk-On Story (Northwestern, 2024)

Buried knee-deep on the Northwestern bench in his freshman year, things began popping in a big way for the walk-on from Germantown Academy. Smith’s opportunity came last year when senior guard Ty Berry went down with a season-ending knee injury, and an already depleted roster was resembling more of a MASH unit than a basketball team.

Northwestern coach Chris Collins summoned Smith into his office and asked if he would give up his redshirt eligibility to log significant minutes with the Wildcats and allow the squad to make its second-consecutive NCAA Tournament bid.

BLAKE. SMITH. pic.twitter.com/MHOtzlQ4tX

— Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) February 29, 2024

Without hesitation, Smith said yes, and he became a defensive stalwart for the Cats, locking down several well-known offensive stars like Maryland’s all-conference guard Jahmir Young. Smith would prove to be pivotal defensively in the paint, and in the team’s first-round matchup against Florida Atlantic last year, he grabbed six boards in 14 minutes, helping the Wildcats to a 77-65 overtime victory before they fell in the second-round to UConn.