I've Got Five On It: Coolest small-school players in NCAA tourney

The 2021 NCAA Tournament is on the verge of tipping off, and the next few weeks will feature big moments from players both well-known and unheralded. Today in I've Got Five On It, Rivals.com national analyst Rob Cassidy provides a guide to five of the coolest small-school players you’ll encounter and possibly fall in love with this month.

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MORE NCAA TOURNEY: Five first-round upset picks | Roundtable predictions

2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position

2022 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position

2023 Rankings: Top 30

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Hyland goes by the impossibly cool nickname “Bones.” The moniker was given to him as a skinny kid growing up in Delaware, which I’m repeatedly assured is a real place. Bones is more than a dude with a sweet nickname, though, as the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year averages more than 19 points per game.

And if his nickname and his play at VCU aren’t enough to sell you on him as a March Madness darling, this video of a high school-aged Hyland systematically picking apart and embarrassing two random bros on a gritty, double-rimmed playground in Philly should do the trick.

As a high schooler, Hyland escaped a house fire that ultimately claimed his grandmother's life by jumping from a second-floor window. The injuries he suffered sidelined him for six months. There are few players easier to root for than Bones, who will be a major problem for Oregon this weekend.

We here at I've Got Five On It love a guy with no conscience when it comes to shooting the ball. Former Baylor chucker LaceDarius Dunn is the patron saint of this column, after all, and Miller scratches that itch. The UNC-Greensbro star is the SoCon Player of the Year and led the country with 494 field goal attempts this season, averaging nearly 18 shots per game. My man put up 27 attempts in a meeting with Western Carolina last month and tossed out 26 on two separate occasions this season.

He still managed to shoot 46 percent on the year, as most of his attempts came from inside the arc. The sad truth is that Miller isn’t nearly as reckless as I’d like him to be for the purposes of my own sick entertainment.

Still, it’s a blast to watch a talented guy assert himself in this manner. If Florida State is able to slow Miller down, it certainly won’t be because he wilts on the big stage. There’s no doubt that he’s going to the rack over and over on Saturday afternoon, and it’ll be up to the Seminoles to get in his way. The Spartans superstar isn’t all offense, as he’s also a two-time SoCon Defensive Player of the Year. Nobody is tuning in to watch Miller defend, though. We demand 30 field-goal attempts against FSU.

The nation’s leading scorer, Abams averages 24.2 points per game for an Oral Roberts team that will take on Ohio State in the first round. Abams has scored 30 or more points in seven games this season and has twice eclipsed the 40-point mark. He managed 33 in an early-season game against Oklahoma State, so it’s not as though his gaudy totals can’t be replicated against elite teams from power conferences.

Abams played all 40 minutes in 12 games this season and did so on consecutive days on three occasions. He operates on an Energizer Bunny level, making him as annoying as opponents come. In a few days, he’ll function as a perpetual thorn in the side of the Buckeyes, and I can’t imagine he’ll come out of the contest unless foul trouble strikes. Thoughts and prayers to Chris Holtmann and everyone watching at home in Columbus.

The lasting impression from the Ramblers’ Final Four run a few years back was a literal nun, but Krutwig was there, too. At the time, the 6-foot-9, 225-pound beefsteak of a center was an impact freshman that averaged 10.9 points per game and scored nine to go along with seven rebounds in an Elite Eight win over Kansas State.

These days, Krutwig is a three-time All-Missouri Valley selection that averages 15 points and six rebounds per contest. Krutwig recently became just the fourth MVC player to score 1,500 points, grab 800 rebounds and record 300 assists in a career.

When he’s not banging around in the paint, Krutwig plays a … uhh … solidly mediocre harmonica. He sometimes sports some patchy facial hair, which I hope in my heart of hearts makes an appearance against Georgia Tech. There’s mid-major magic in a starter mustache … always has been.

You may or may not have heard of Chong Qui. If you haven’t, here’s the primer: The Mount Saint Mary’s standout plays Division I basketball at 5-foot-8 and 155 pounds. His mother was murdered when he was 4 years old and his father was paralyzed by a different shooting years later. If overcoming adversity had a hall of fame, Chong Qui would be a first-ballot inductee. That’s the stuff that grabs the headlines, but the undersized guard’s big game is what will pop off the page this week.

Chong Qui isn’t just a Mount Saint Mary’s player, he’s the Mountaineers’ star. He averages 15 points and five assists per contest and managed to grab 4.2 rebounds a game despite standing no taller than a yoga mat is long. The most impressive thing about Chong Qui’s game, however, might be the number of different ways in which he gets buckets.

The Baltimore product is certainly solid from behind the arc, but he’s not all long-range shooting. He gets to the basket in near-baffling fashion and can finish through contact as well. Watching him play is an absolute blast, and the country will likely fall in love with his game if his Mountaineers are able to get past Texas Southern in the First Four and earn a date with No. 1 seed Michigan.