March Madness heats up, here are some Bloomington natives to watch

Indiana University’s men’s and women’s teams are done for the season, but there are still some rooting interests to be had as March Madness hits the college basketball scene full bore.

Here’s a look at some local connections who’s teams are still in action this week:

Beth Cunningham, South

Former Bloomington South and Notre Dame standout Beth Cunningham took over the Missouri State women’s program four years ago right after the Bears made their last NCAA appearance under now Virginia coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton.

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She oversaw the transition from the Missouri Valley Conference to Conference USA this season and surprised their new neighbors by making a run to the league tournament title as a sixth seed. The Bears (22-12) punched their ticket with a 43-38 victory over top seed Louisiana Tech (26-6) in the championship game, holding the Lady Techsters to just 12 points in the second half.

That followed upset wins over No. 3 seed Middle Tennessee State and No. 2 seed Florida International.

It marks their 18^th NCAA Tournament appearance and 12^th conference tournament crown in program history. Missouri State was placed in a play-in game in Austin, Texas against Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday, March 18 (9 p.m., ESPN2). The winner moves on to play the top-seed Longhorns on Friday.

Before arriving in Springfield, Mo., the former Panther standout had stints as an assistant coach at Notre Dame and then Duke following nine years as head coach at Virginia Commonwealth.

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Last year, Cunningham was named MVC Coach of the Year after leading her squad to a 26-9 overall record and a share of the MVC regular-season title with a 16-4 record in league play. The title marked the first regular-season championship of Cunningham’s career as a head coach, an eighth-straight 20-win season for the program and a WBIT bid for the second year in a row.

Mo Hirt, North

An upset loss in the first round of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament was just a bump in the road, not a road block for North grad Mo Hirt and her Denison Big Red women’s team.

With a 24-2 record, Denison earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III national tournament and has taken full advantage. Two wins at home, including a 63-54 defeat of Trine, sent them to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.

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No. 8 Denison then went to Virginia and beat NCAC foe John Carroll for a third time, 86-67, and then knocked off host, third ranked and previously undefeated Washington & Lee, 77-64 to punch their ticket to the national semifinals. The Big Red held the Generals to 28% shooting.

Denison (28-2), which tied the program record for wins in a season, heads to Salem, Va. to take on No. 2 powerhouse Wisconsin-Oshkosh (28-3), a team that made it to the final four last year only to be handed a 49-47 loss.

Hirt was recently named Region 7 coach of the year for the second time in three seasons by D3hoops.com.

After a standout career at North, Hirt became the all-time scoring leader and top 3-point shooter at Kenyon before beginning her coaching career. She took over a program that was 9-14, going 10-16 before winning 20 games in 2023-24.

Jonathan Holmes, Miami

The son of South boys basketball coach JR Holmes has been a part of one of the most talked about stories in the men’s game this year. But one loss almost made them a footnote.

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Despite the slip up in the Mid-American Conference Tournament after opening the season with 31 straight wins, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee allowed the 11th seeded Redhawks to grab one of the last spots on the elevator leading to the first floor.

Miami will be forced to win a play-in game at nearby Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday, March 18 at 9:10 p.m. against SMU (truTV). The winner will play again on Friday at 4:15 p.m. in Philadelphia against sixth-seeded Tennessee in the Midwest Region.

Holmes joined the Miami coaching staff in May 2022 and this is his third year as an associate head coach. He came to Oxford after long stints at Elon and William & Mary.

Holmes was added to the Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame in 2025.

Dusty May, Michigan

The Eastern Greene and Indiana University grad has one of the Final Four favorites on his hands this time around with Michigan.

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The Wolverines are a No. 1 seed, even after falling to Purdue in the Big Ten title game. Michigan (31-3) will take on the winner of a play-in game between Maryland-Baltimore County, still famous for becoming the first ever 16th seed to upset a No. 1 when it took down Virginia in 2018.

May took the Wolverines to a 27-10 record and a Sweet 16 appearance in his first year. Prior to that, he earned national notice after taking Florida Atlantic to the Final Four in 2023 and another NCAA berth in 2024.

Sean May, North Carolina

Bloomington North grad Sean May, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 NCAA Final Four, is in his fifth season as assistant coach and 11th on the basketball staff at his alma mater, North Carolina.

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The Tar Heels went 24-8, losing to Clemson in the ACC Tournament and are a No. 6 seed in the South Region where they take on No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth, the Atlantic 10 tourney winners, on Thursday, March 19 in Greenville, SC at 6:50 p.m. (TNT).

This is Carolina’s 55th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

In his first three seasons on the bench, May helped lead UNC to the 2022 Final Four and a berth in the national championship game, a regular-season ACC championship and No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed in 2024.

May was director of basketball operations for four seasons under Hall of Fame head coach Roy Williams, including the title team of 2017.

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May was Mr. Basketball in 2001 and a three-time all-state selection.

JQ Roberts, Davidson

The Bloomington North grad is in his first year at Davidson, transferring after two years at Vanderbilt and will get his second taste of postseason play after the Wildcats earned a spot in the NIT.

Davidson went 20-8, beating Loyola (Chicago) 64-59 in overtime to open the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament before falling to third seed St. Josephs.

The junior is averaging 2.6 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per game off the bench. He’s shooting 46% from the floor and 60% at the line. He has 19 steals and 11 blocks.

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Roberts made a quick appearance in Vandy’s 59-56 first-round loss to St, Mary’s in the 2025 NCAA’s.

Chris Brand, Azuza Pacific

Bloomington native and South grad Chris Brand just finished up his second year as an assistant coach with the Azusa Pacific women’s basketball program.  The Cougars went 23-10 and finished as runner-up in the PacWest Conference tournament to earn a spot in the West Regional of the NCAA Division II Tournament. But AzuzaPacific fell 56-54 to No. 3 Cal Poly Pomona on March 13.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington natives to watch as March Madness heats up