First Families of NCAA Tournament: No West Virginia Father-Son Combination
West Virginia would have featured a prominent father-son/coach-player combination in 2025 NCAA Tournament if Drake transfer Tucker DeVries didn't incur a shoulder injury. Coach Darian DeVries' son would have been most likely to challenge what UCF's Aubrey Dawkins achieved six years ago under his dad (Johnny Dawkins). Averaging fewer than 10 points per game during his three-year college career, a dynamic 32-point performance by Michigan transfer Aubrey against Duke - dad's alma mater - was four points higher than his All-American father's NCAA playoff single-game best of 28 against Navy in 1986. Two years ago, DeVries hit only 1-of-11 three-pointers in Drake's opening-round loss, finishing with three points. Who knows? Perhaps DeVries duo will be in playoffs next campaign with Indiana.
Four years ago, Buddy Boeheim was on fire in torching San Diego State with 30 points, including 16 straight in first half, under retiring Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. TJ Madlock, Alabama State's third-leading scorer (12.6 ppg) under coach Tony Madlock, isn't expected to join exclusive club. The Dawkins duo is atop the following high-game list of seven sons of coaches at same school at same time scoring more than 25 points in an NCAA playoff contest:
| Player/Son | School | Coach/Father | HG | NCAA Tournament Opponent (Result) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aubrey Dawkins | UCF | Johnny Dawkins | 32 | Duke in 2019 East Regional Second Round (L 77-76) |
| Buddy Boeheim | Syracuse | Jim Boeheim | 30 | San Diego State in 2021 Midwest Regional First Round (W 78-62) |
| Doug McDermott | Creighton | Greg McDermott | 30 | Louisiana-Lafayette in 2014 West Regional First Round (W 76-66) |
| Mark Acres | Oral Roberts | Dick Acres | 28 | Memphis State in 1984 Midwest Regional First Round (L 92-83) |
| Bryce Drew | Valparaiso | Homer Drew | 27 | Boston College in 1997 West Regional First Round (L 73-66) |
| Bryce Alford | UCLA | Steve Alford | 27 | Southern Methodist in 2015 South Regional First Round (W 60-59) |
| Steve Connor | Boise State | Doran "Bus" Connor | 26 | UNLV in 1976 West Regional First Round (L 103-78) |
NOTE: Steve Alford's NCAA playoff-game high for Indiana was 33 points against UNLV in 1987 National Semifinal. Combined with son Bryce's best of 27, their total of 60 matched cumulative high-game outputs for Johnny and Aubrey Dawkins.