Game Changers: A Look Back at Tampa Bay-Area Basketball Players Who Made A Mark

By Joey Johnston

When the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament brings its early round games to downtown Tampa’s Benchmark International Arena on March 20 and 22, it’s more than just a casual drop-in to the land of beachfront vistas, palm trees and flip-flops.

It’s a visit to the land of NCAA Tournament history.

The Tampa Bay area is steeped in players who made unmistakable marks on the event, including some who played key roles in historic games.

The Florida Gators, who very well could begin their March Madness run in Tampa, are shooting for the seventh Final Four appearance in program annals. But the very first appearance was 1994 — a remarkable moment as the Gators advanced to Charlotte and tangled with the Duke Blue Devils — and UF’s charge was led by a pair of unforgettable players from Pinellas County.

With Andrew DeClercq (Countryside) and Dametri Hill (Dixie Hollins) controlling the pivot, the Gators had a magical run. DeClercq’s intense determination and Hill’s unstoppable interior shot (“Da Meat Hook’’) were catalysts behind UF unlocking its basketball potential and showing future Gator generations that March was about more than spring football. The Gators have since captured three national championships, the back-to-back title-winners in 2006 and 2007 (featuring Marreese Speights of Admiral Farragut Academy) and last season’s 2025 squad.

Tampa Bay area players were part of several NCAA games that resonated.

In 1975, Louisville 6-foot-11 freshman Ricky Gallon (Jefferson) remembers being thrilled to participate in the national semifinals against the UCLA Bruins in San Diego. Before the game, there was a public-address announcement that legendary UCLA coach John Wooden (the “Wizard of Westwood’’) would be retiring after the Final Four.

“The whole arena went silent,’’ Gallon once said.

Louisville was beaten by UCLA at the buzzer, 75-74, and Wooden’s Bruins ultimately won the national championship.

“Just being a part of that as an 18-year-old, I carried that the rest of my life,’’ Gallon later said.

At the 1979 Final Four that was credited with helping the NCAA Tournament become a can’t-miss event — fueled by the spectacle finale of Michigan State’s Magic Johnson against Indiana State’s Larry Bird — another Jefferson High player was front and center. Leroy Staley was Bird’s teammate at Indiana State.

“There were a lot of people who would’ve loved to have been at that game — and I was on the court playing,’’ Staley said. “You don’t realize it then, but it’s the time of your life.’’

Horace Broadnax (Plant City) played in two NCAA championship games with the Georgetown Hoyas — alongside center Patrick Ewing. There was a 1984 triumph against Houston, then a stunning 1985 defeat against Villanova as the Wildcats registered one of the great NCAA upsets.

Broadnax, who got the recruiting attention of Georgetown coach John Thompson during Plant City’s Class 4A state-title run in 1982, said his NCAA memories are mixed.

“The highest of highs and the lowest of lows,’’ Broadnax said.

Matt Geiger (Countryside), a 7-foot bruiser probably best known for his 10-season NBA career, experienced the highest of highs during Georgia Tech’s second-round NCAA Tournament game in 1992. It was on an inbound pass of all things. Trailing by two points, Geiger struggled to find an open man, then whipped a desperation pass to James Forrest, who buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat USC, 79-78. It was Forrest’s only 3-point make of the season. To quote Hall of Fame coach Al McGuire, who was on the courtside call for CBS-TV: “HOLY MACKEREL! HOLY MACKEREL! HOLY MACKEREL!’’

Indeed.

Casey Sanders (Tampa Prep) was part of four NCAA Tournament teams with the Duke Blue Devils, including the 2001 national-title squad that saw him starting at center during the championship game against Arizona. His Tampa friend Desmond Allison (Robinson) wasn’t as fortunate. In 1999, one game away from reaching the Final Four at St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field, the Kentucky Wildcats were beaten by Michigan State in the region final, leaving UK freshman Allison in tears as he trudged to the locker room. 

The twins from Brandon High — Joey and Stephen Graham — earned a spot in the 2004 national semifinals with Oklahoma State — while 7-foot-2 center Nick Smith (Bloomingdale) got to the 2005 championship game with Illinois, only to be defeated by North Carolina.

Shawn Vanzant (Wharton) also played in four NCAA Tournaments, punctuated by two Final Four appearances with Butler University, a 4,200-student mid-major program that captured the nation’s imagination. Even though Butler fell twice in the title game, those moments followed Vanzant into a career of professional basketball and high-school coaching.

“Once you have ‘NCAA Tournament’ or ‘Final Four’ placed by your name, it lasts forever and it’s very special,’’ Vanzant said.

The latest local to enjoy that glory was Auburn’s Johni Broome (Tampa Catholic), the Sporting News National Player of the Year and SEC Player of the Year, who was a Wooden Award finalist. Broome was unwanted by major schools coming out of TC, so he began at Morehead State. After rapid improvement — and a modern upward mobility invention known as the transfer portal — Broome landed in the SEC and became a legend.

Broome averaged 18.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per game en route to becoming a first-team All-American. But the Tigers, a 32-victory team, were beaten 79-73 by the Florida Gators in the national semifinals.

The most high-profile player in TC history — Kevin Knox II — was also frustrated by his NCAA Tournament experience when the Kentucky Wildcats were upended by Kansas State during the 2018 region semifinals. Knox, Hillsborough County’s all-time leading scorer, was also UK’s leading scorer and SEC Freshman of the Year during his lone collegiate season before becoming an NBA draft lottery pick.

Is there another Tampa Bay-produced player ready to join this elite fraternity? It began humbly in 1972, when Florida State featured a pair of Tampa Bay area reserves — Artie Fryer (Middleton) and John Amick (St. Petersburg) — on the roster during the title game against UCLA. It progressed to the point where local players were regularly featured in prime roles during NCAA play.

Some of those players got there in an unexpected fashion. 

Bennett Anderson (Jesuit) was a member of Florida’s 2025 NCAA champions as a walk-on. Anderson, a three-time intramural champion, went from basketball manager to player. It was a similar story in 2003 for Andrew Kouwe (Tampa Prep), a walk-on guard for Syracuse’s NCAA champions, led by freshman Carmelo Anthony.

Those memories are forever.

“You dream of getting there — and once you get there and win it all, it’s the greatest feeling,’’ Sanders said of his Duke University glory.

One thing appears certain: Long after the NCAA Tournament departs from Benchmark International Arena, the Tampa Bay area will continue to build upon its decades-long legacy in the premier event for men’s college basketball. The string of excellent home-grown players continues to be an integral part of March Madness.