First Families of NCAA Tourney: Drake & Boise State Boast Father-Son Combos
Drake, Boise State and Nebraska feature the most prominent father-son/coach-player combinations appearing in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Among the trio, Drake's Tucker DeVries is most likely on paper to challenge what UCF's Aubrey Dawkins achieved five 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. A year ago, DeVries hit only 1-of-11 three-pointers in opening-round loss, finishing with three points.
Three 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. 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.