Pitt's Ashton Gibbs

Granted, watching basketball all the time is part of my job, but it still amazes me how many people don’t (or rarely) watch college hoops until the NCAA Tournament. Because of such inexcusable ignoring of America’s best spectator sport (if you ask me), during the Big Dance I usually get peppered with “Who is that guy?” or “Who does [Team X] got?” questions.

Some of them make sense — even I can’t say I’ve seen Wofford or UC Santa Barbara play this year — but a lot of the players who slip under the mainstream radar don’t deserve the anonymity. After giving your four Players to Watch from the Midwest and South regions yesterday, here’s the West:

ASHTON GIBBS, Pittsburgh, PG, Soph.
Playing behind Levance Fields, Gibbs logged only 10 minutes a night as a freshman, but had his breakout performance over the summer: Winning a gold medal as a starter with Team USA at the Under-19 World Championships — a squad coached by Pitt’s Jamie Dixon. Gibbs hit the ground running when the season began, quickly becoming Pitt’s go-to guy. The Panthers will always play tough and inspired defense, but somebody needs to put the ball in the basket, which is where Gibbs (15.8 ppg, 1.9 apg) fits into the picture. He’s hitting 40 percent of his threes and almost 90 percent at the line, but on the days when his shot isn’t falling, Pitt is in trouble. In the team’s eight losses this year, Gibbs has shot 27 percent (29-for-106) from the field.

DERRICK CARACTER, UTEP, PF, Jr.
You remember Caracter, right? He was All-Everything as far back as middle school, a manchild pegged as the next Amar’e Stoudemire before any of us had even heard of Amar’e. Following a tumultuous high school career he landed at Louisville, where he was a bad fit and left after two years. He resurfaced at UTEP this year, helping lead the Miners to a 15-1 record in Conference-USA while averaging 13.8 points and 8.0 rebounds with seven double-doubles. At 6-9, 275 pounds, Caracter is closer to Zach Randolph than Amar’e at this point, a skilled four who eats up rebounds and has a soft touch around the basket. UTEP is as good a pick as any 12-seed to pull off a first-round upset; Butler big man Matt Howard was dominated by Greg Monroe earlier this year and is prone to foul trouble. If Caracter takes ownership of the paint, UTEP will advance.

Florida's Erving Walker

ERVING WALKER (Soph.) & KENNY BOYNTON (Fr.), Florida, PG/SG
Each of Billy Donovan’s three Final Four teams have been incredibly balanced, with quality guards (Teddy Dupay, Taurean Green), wings (Mike Miller, Corey Brewer) and bigs (Udonis Haslem, Joakim Noah, Al Horford) all working together as a selfless unit. This year’s Gators aren’t going to the Final Four without significant help from a fairy godmother and some industrious rats, but they do have five players who average between 10 and 13 points per game: bigs Alex Tyus and Vernon Macklin, wing Chandler Parsons, and guards Boynton (13.6 ppg) and Walker (12.6 ppg, 4.9 apg). The 5-8 Walker and 6-2 Boynton are undersized for their positions by NBA standards, but on the college level they comprise one of the most explosive backcourts in the country.

JORDAN CRAWFORD, Xavier, SG, Soph.
If you forgot about Crawford after the LeBron dunk-video story died down, you missed out on a good show. The transfer from Indiana was an instant hit with the Musketeers, leading the Atlantic 10 in scoring at 19.7 points per game to go with 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals. Early in the season he struggled against tough nonconference competition: Crawford shot 4-for-20 against Marquette, 6-for-19 against Baylor, 5-for-16 against Cincinnati and 5-for-13 against Kansas State, but after dropping 30 points on Wake Forest right before A-10 play began, he hit his stride. Crawford will attack the rim all day and can score in traffic, but he’s not a very polished scorer yet, and guarantee Minnesota’s Tubby Smith has a game plan for him.

More March Madness stories:
- The Art of Bracketology
- 6 First Round Upsets To Have In Your Bracket
- Paul George Declares for NBA Draft on Twitter