NCAA Tournament: 5 Players to Watch From Mid-Major Teams

Keon Johnson, Winthrop Eagles

The senior guard and his 13-seeded Winthrop Eagles will start off the 2017 NCAA Tournament in a clash with the 4-seeded Butler Bulldogs on Thursday afternoon. They'll be in search of an upset against a program who has pulled a few of their own over the years.

If Winthrop's going to make it happen, Johnson's going to have to be big -- something he's shown he can do over the course of the regular season, averaging 22.5 points while earning Big South Player of the Year. The 5'7" firecracker also scored 30 or more points on seven different occasions with 3 or more triples in each of those games.

Despite a high-volume game (29.9% usage rate and 15.8 field goal attempts per game), Johnson has managed to be efficient while leading his squad to 26 wins and a second straight conference title. He possesses a player efficiency rating of 23.2 and leads the team with a total of 5.5 win shares on the year.