Where Are They Now? One-Hit Wonders

Finding Cinderella
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  • Last year, VCU shocked the world by making it to the Final Four with young coach Shaka Smart (pictured) and a roster that included lovable underdogs like diminutive guard Joey Rodriguez. Where are Rodriguez and the rest of March's one-hit wonders who were really heard from again?

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  • Kimble and Fryer were members of the 1990 Elite Eight team at No. 11 seed Loyola Marymount, which embarked on its run after the sudden death of team star Hank Gathers in the '90 West Coast Conference Tournament.

    Kimble, a childhood friend of Gathers who shot the first free throw of each tourney game left-handed in honor of his teammate, has been on the board of directors at the foundation 44 for Life, which aims to decrease incidence of death and disability from heart disease. He's also an assistant basketball coach at Shoreline Community College in Shoreline, WA.

    Fryer put his mark on the LMU's memorable run by hitting 11 3-pointers in a second-round NCAA tournament game against Michigan. After a professional career overseas for nearly a decade, Fryer returned to Southern California, where he runs "Fryer Basketball Academy." He runs camps, gives clinics and holds private lessons.


  • Drew provided a game-winning 3-pointer for Valpo, one of the most famous March Madness moments of all time known as "The Shot," to lift the Crusaders to a first-round win over Ole Miss in 1998. All college hoops fans remember his belly-flop celebration as his teammates piled on him.

    Now, he's the head coach at his alma mater, taking over for his father, who retired after the 2011 campaign. The younger Drew led Valpo to the Horizon League title game, where it lost to Detroit. The Crusaders face Miami (FL) in the NIT on Wednesday.

  • Possibly the greatest name in college basketball history, Shammgod led No. 10 seed Providence on a surprising run to the 1997 Elite Eight as a sophomore before losing to eventual national champion Arizona, which was led by Mike Bibby. Shammgod played professionally in the NBA and overseas from 1997-2009, last playing professionally in China.

    He currently splits his time between Harlem, where he grew up, and Monroe, NY, about an hour north of New York City.

  • A fan favorite in Morgantown whose last name became a verb, Pittsnogle used his unorthodox style en route to one of the most-prolific careers in WVU history. He is in the school's top 10 in many categories, including points, and helped the Mountaineers reach the 2005 Elite Eight and the 2006 Sweet 16.

    He was a teacher at North Martinsburg Middle School from 2008-09 and was a member of the Winchester (VA) Storm of the Eastern Basketball Alliance, where's he was averaging 13.0 PPG before leaving the team several games ago. It is unclear if he will return. He still resides in Martinsburg, WV.

  • Farokhmanesh etched his name in NCAA Tournament lore by hitting a huge 3-pointer to lift Northern Iowa over top-seeded Kansas en route to a Sweet 16 appearance in 2010. He landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated for his heroics.

    After going undrafted that summer, Farokhmanesh played in Switzerland and now is a member of Austria’s WBC Raiffeisen Wels.

  • A three-time All-Ivy League player, Lewullis scored 1,277 points at Princeton, but he's remembered for one play: a backdoor layup. The basket with three seconds left helped lift 13th-seeded Princeton to a shocking 43-41 victory over defending national champ UCLA in the first-round of the 1996 NCAA tournament.

    Lewullis has gone on to bigger and better things; he's an orthopedic surgeon at Bayhealth Medical Center in Dover, DE.

    And yes, that's a young Gus Johnson on the call:

  • Arceneaux led Weber State to a surprise victory over powerhouse North Carolina in the first round of the 1999 NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels, a perennial member of the tourney, had won every opening-round game since 1980 up until that point. Nicknamed "The Show," Arceneaux scored 36 points, including 20 after halftime, en route to the two-point win. As Kevin Harlan said at the time: "The bar for heroism has just been raised!"

    Arceneaux last played overseas in 2011 for Quilmes MP in Argentina and currently resides in Atlanta, GA.

  • Charles, of course, slammed in the winning basket in the 1983 NCAA title game to give NC State an incredible victory over Houston's Phi Slama Jama. The dunk sent coach Jim Valvano running in celebration to provide one of the everlasting visuals in sports history.

    Charles tragically died in June of 2011, when a bus he was driving for a service called Elite Coach crashed near Raleigh, NC.

  • The sixth man on that upstart national champion Villanova team in 1985, Jensen helped slay big, bad Georgetown with four clutch free throws down the stretch in the national title game. He also hit all five of his shots from the field in the game and finished with 14 points. He was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1987 but never played in the NBA.

    He has been an executive at Sparks Marketing Group in Philadelphia.

  • No. 11 seed George Mason landed in the Final Four in 2006, when Lewis was the major post presence for the Patriots as they shocked powerhouse Connecticut in the Elite Eight.

    After college, Lewis tried to land with the New York Giants as an offensive tackle, but that didn't pan out. He immediately returned to basketball and currently is a member of Japan's Levanga Hokkaido.

  • Smart will forever be a part of college basketball history for his game-winning jump shot in the 1987 national title game that gave the Hoosiers a one-point win over Syracuse.

    After a pro career that took him to the NBA, CBA and overseas from 1988-97, Smart has been the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers (interim basis) and Golden State Warriors before taking over the reins of the Sacramento Kings in January, when Paul Westphal was fired.

  • The diminutive Rodriguez became a star after helping VCU to a Cinderella run to the Final Four in 2011. He was invited to the White House’s celebration of Cinco de Mayo and appeared on George Lopez’s late-night talk show in the aftermath.

    Rodriguez, who wasn't drafted into the NBA, is now a member of Puerto Rico's Atleticos de San German.

  • Dembo engaged in a duel with UCLA's Reggie Miller in the second round of the 1987 NCAA tournament and averaged 27.8 PPG in the tourney to push the Cowboys into the Sweet 16. The feat landed Dembo on the cover of Sports Illustrated dressed as a real-life Cowboy.

    The man with the memorable name enrolled at St. Philips Community College in San Antonio in 2009 and, as of 2010, was studying civil engineering there.

  • McFadden always will be remembered as the driving force behind Cleveland State's upset of Bob Knight and Indiana in 1986, the first instance in which a No. 14 seed beat a No. 3. The Vikings' leading scorer, McFadden helped the school to an unlikely spot in the Sweet 16.

    As of 2010, McFadden was a health specialist for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in Cleveland.

  • You remember Villanova's Kerry Kittles, right? Well, Sessoms is the guy who engaged in a shootout with the future NBA standout in the 1995 NCAA tournament's first round, when the Monarchs upset the Wildcats in triple overtime; Sessoms poured in 35 points on the Wildcats that day.

    He now lives near Los Angeles, CA, as his wife is in the movie business.

  • Price, the father of former Connecticut and current NBA guard A.J. Price, led the Quakers to their lone Final Four in 1979 by knocking off North Carolina, Syracuse and St. John’s before running into a guy named "Magic" Johnson and Michigan State.

    Price has worked on Wall Street in insurance brokerage.

  • A New York City playground legend nicknamed "Velvet," Chapman helped Dayton to the Elite Eight in 1984, when it lost to eventual champion Georgetown. The Flyers were a No. 10 seed that year. Chapman had a memorable 41-point output against in that tourney against Oklahoma, which was led by Wayman Tisdale.

    Chapman unsuccessfully ran for Congress in Ohio in 2006 and, as of 2010, now lives in Tampa, FL.

  • Forrest hit a famous buzzer-beating shot to send Georgia Tech to an upset of USC in the second round of the 1992 NCAA tournament, when he was a freshman. It's still known to this day as "Holy Mackerel!"

    As of 2009, he began helping youth in the Atlanta, GA, area by starting Forrest Scholastic and Sports Academy.

  • Rogers' buzzer-beater in 2008 beat Drake and helped eventually send the 12th-seeded Hilltoppers to the Sweet 16.

    He worked in pharmaceutical sales after graduation and landed in the outpost of Eddyville, KY, in 2010.

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11:38 AM on 3/13/2012
  • Chi-townBulls732

    The names show up, but there is no description about where they are and the photos aren’t working.

  • desertrat

    i must completely agree w/chi-town

  • DubaiRich

    Not even showing name now!

  • T C MAN

    WAT THE HELL

  • BowWow

    Best slideshow ever.

  • mike

    The links are messed up HELLO

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      IE 9

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    The links don’t work! Cannot advance the pages.

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    IE9 and the joint doesn’t work.

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    can’t view the slideshow!!

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    Does not work …

  • Milton

    Using IE 8.0.7600.16385. Slideshow not working. In the blue bar, when you click he next button, the counter does not increment. It stays at 1 of 20. The names of the One hit wonder’s change but nothing else. The picture and caption regarding Shaka Smart and VCU remain the same.