PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- March Madness is here, and the progression to crown the 2017 NCAA men's basketball champion begins this week.
Like most Major League teams, the Rays have an interest in who cuts down the nets at the end of the tournament. Count Kevin Kiermaier among the most interested.
Kiermaier, who hails from Fort Wayne, Ind., fashions himself as "Tampa's most dedicated Purdue fan." When the Rays drafted the Gold Glove center fielder in 2010 after he spent two All-American years at junior college, he had signed a letter of intent to transfer to play baseball for the Boilermakers.