There have been a lot of memorable events, players and teams in the 70 year history of The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Over the years many of the players went on to successful careers in the professional leagues. Here is a look at some of those legendary players and one rising star on the court who emerged from the NCAA Tournament.

Bill Russell is a legendary Center who won five MVP awards, was an All Star twelve times, won an unbelievable eleven NBA championships during his time with the Boston Celtics and won a Gold medal as the Captain of the US National Basketball team. Russell played on the winning University of San Francisco team during the NCAA Tournaments of 1955 and 1956.

Wilt Chamberlain had a lot of impressive stats in his career including being the first player to score 100 points in a single game. While at the University of Kansas Wilt played Center in the 23 team (instead of the current 65 team) version of the NCAA Tournament and was named the Most Outstanding Player of The Final Four in 1956. Chamberlain finished his NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1973.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lewis Alcindor Jr.) had an impressive career as a Center that started in High School and lasted until his retirement in 1989 while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. Abdul-Jabbar played in the 1968 NCAA Tournament for UCLA against the Houston Cougars. Kareem holds the distinction of being the top NBA scorer (and most MVP awards) of all time with 38,387 points beating out Wilt Chamberlain, Karl Malone and Michael Jordan.

Bill Walton is a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, first round draft pick and father of current Laker, Luke Walton. Like Abdul-Jabbar, Walton also played on the UCLA Bruins team in the NCAA Tournament under coach John Wooden (in 1973). Bill Walton started his NBA career as a Center with the Portland Trail Blazers and finished it with the Boston Celtics in 1987.

Dwyane Wade is the 26 year old Shooting guard who played for Marquette University in Milwaukee during the 2003 NCAA Tournament. The following year Dwyane played for the US National team and took home the Bronze medal. Wade is a four time NBA All Star, SI Sportsman of the Year and NBA Finals MVP. Dwyane was drafted by the Miami Heat in 2003 where he continues to play.

These are just a few of the great players to come out of the NCAA Tournament. On March 18th, 2008 we will be planted in front of a flat screen to see the next potential batch of legends play.