Nine of the players in this year’s NCAA basketball tournament got there (in part) by way of a suitcase filled with cash. But it’s not what you think. To get the full story, you need to go back to 2007 when an eighth grade teacher named Mike George was appearing on the gameshow Deal or No Deal. “Half the winnings, George told the host Howie Mandel on the set, would go toward supporting his grass-roots youth basketball program.” And he won.