Thursday, November 7, 2024
Sports

Jalen Hurts, Tamika Catchings lead celebrity cameos in women's championship game

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March Madness brings out alumni, current sports stars and celebrities.

Notable sports figures such as NBA stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and others have been spotted supporting their teams throughout the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments.

The stars came flocking to Cleveland for the women’s championship game Sunday. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and WNBA legend Tamika Catchings were out supporting Caitlin Clark and Kamilla Cardoso.

Las Vegas Aces star and South Carolina Gamecocks alum A’ja Wilson and rapper Plies were in attendance to support the No. 1-seed Gamecocks during the women’s Final Four game Friday.

The UConn Huskies alum and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart supported her alma mater in their Final Four matchup against the Hawkeyes. Stewart was joined by Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner. Aces star Kelsey Plum, rapper Machine Gun Kelly — who posed with the Iowa Hawkeyes cheer team — and Kylie Kelce, wife of Jason Kelce, were also in attendance.

Here’s a look at more celebrity sightings throughout the 2024 NCAA tournaments.

Lincoln Riley, Matt Leinart, John Wall

USC‘s opening two games in the NCAA Tournament were star studded. During the Trojans’ second-round game against the No. 8 seed Kansas Jayhawks on March 25, football coach Lincoln Riley, Heisman-winning quarterback Matt Leinart and former NBA guard John Wall were in attendance.

No. 1 seed USC defeated Kansas 73-55 led by 28 points and 11 rebounds from JuJu Watkins.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy showed out for the Iowa State Cyclones on March 24. The Cyclones faced the No. 2 seed Stanford Cardinal in the second round of the women’s basketball tournament.

Purdy spent four seasons at Iowa State, starting 46 straight games in his career. He threw for 12,170 yards and 81 touchdowns plus had 993 completions, all school records. The 49ers drafted Purdy with the final pick in the 2022 NFL draft, making him “Mr. Irrelevant.”

Iowa State lost to Stanford in overtime, 87-81.

The Bryant family, Cheryl Miller, Caleb Williams

The Trojans have always drawn a crowd — this time it was the Bryant family, Miller and Williams who attended USC;s victory over No. 16 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the women’s tournament round of 64.

The Bryant family — Vanessa, Kobe’s widow, and children Natalia, Bianka and Capri — was out to support Watkins, who wore Kobe’s signature shoes throughout her freshman year.

Miller’s ties to the Trojans is cemented in legend — as she’s helped the Trojans to back-to-back national titles in 1983 and 1984. Watkins broke Miller’s all-time single-season scoring record while Miller was in attendance.

The 2023 Heisman Trophy winner was in attendance as well. Williams, the 2024 NFL draft’s projected No. 1 overall pick, spent two years as the Trojans’ quarterback.

Durant, a 14-time NBA All-Star now playing for the Phoenix Suns, was a one-and-done player for the Texas Longhorns in 2006-07, but his lone season was a decorated one. He became the first freshman to be a consensus national player of the year and averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebound per games. Durant was in attendance for 1-seed Texas’ win over 8-seed Alabama in the women’s round of 32.

Nina and Russell Westbrook

LA Clippers guard Russell Westbrook played two seasons at UCLA and helped the Bruins advance to the Final Four in the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.

His wife, Nina, also played basketball at UCLA and was an honorable mention for the Pac-10 All-Freshman and All-Defensive teams in 2007-08.

The Westbrooks were there to watch the No. 2 seed Bruins defeat 15-seed California Baptist in the first round of the women’s tournament.


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