Braylon Mullins' March Madness heroics put salt in the wound for IU basketball fans

The Indiana Hoosiers missing out on the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row and in eight of the last 10 years is already frustrating enough for IU basketball fans. But now, players and coaches with strong Indiana roots are becoming March Madness heroes with other schools.

Indiana native and Hoosier alum Dusty May has led the Michigan Wolverines to a historic season that has the maize and blue in the Final Four for the 9th time in program history. May now gets to come back to his home state for the Final Four this weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Dusty May's Indiana roots deepen the frustration for Hoosier basketball fans

Furthermore, Greenfield native Braylon Mullins delivered one of the most iconic shots in March Madness history on Sunday night to send UConn to the Final Four.

Former Indiana Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins delivers one of the biggest shots in NCAA Tournament history

Trailing 72-70 in the closing seconds of their Elite Eight matchup against Duke, the Huskies forced a turnover at mid court and all of a sudden the ball was in the hands of Braylon Mullins. The freshman passed it over to senior Alex Karaban, who then prompty passed it back.

The rest is history.

Mullins' heroics instantly puts him in esteemed lore with other March Madness buzzer-beating legends such as Christian Laettner, Bryce Drew, Luke Maye, and Kris Jenkins.

As electric as the shot was for college basketball fans across the country, it puts a little more salt in the wound for Indiana fans.

Hoosier fans will be reminded that IU missed out on Braylon Mullins every time his heroic shot is played

Mullins hails from Greenfield, IN, and was one of the most accomplished high school players in the history of the state. Playing for Greenfield-Central, Mullins averaged 32.9 points. 7.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.7 steals per game while shooting over 47% from beyond the arc during his senior season for the Cougars.

For his efforts, Mullins was named 2025 Mr. Basketball in the state of Indiana, which is one of the most prestigious awards in the world of high school basketball. The award had previously been won by college basketball greats such as Kyle Guy, Gary Harris, Greg Oden, and Tyler and Cody Zeller.

Mullins was a consensus 5-star prospect and was ranked as the top player in Indiana and the No. 12 overall player in the country for the 2025 recruiting class according to 247Sports. He received over 25 offers from Power 4 teams across the country, and was heavily recruited by Mark Woodson and his staff at IU. Given his close proximity to Bloomington, Mullins was a top priority for the Hoosiers.

However, the 5-star shooting guard ultimately chose to play for Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies. It was a tough blow for Indiana, and it continues to get worse given Indiana's lack of success in Year 1 of the Darian DeVries era.

Bill Raftery even mentioned Mullins' Hoosier State roots on the CBS broadcast saying, "The deflection, the reaction, and then the major...ONIONS! Out of Indiana. They all can shoot." He later mentioned that Mullins shot it all the way from Greenfield.

College basketball fans will see this shot in every March Madness promo from now until probably the end of time. Each time it's shown, Hoosier fans will be reminded of how Indiana missed out on such an elite local product.