The men’s NCAA Tournament bracket is about. Now school basketball followers can lastly begin filling out their very own brackets.
Listed here are 10 gamers to know as March Insanity begins within the males’s event:
Hunter Dickinson | Kansas
Gotta love this: The 7-foot-2 heart loves taking part in the villain. Dickinson as soon as called Michigan the “fake Midwest” after transferring from the U of M to Kansas in 2023.
“[Michiganders] had been good folks however not as good [as Kansans],” the 24-year-old advised the “Rock Chalk Unplugged” podcast. That was a daring assertion that earned him a whole lot of Wolverine haters.
Cooper Flagg | Duke
Gotta love this: As a child, school basketball’s most talked about participant studied clips of the 1986 NBA champion Boston Celtics. Per Baxter Holmes of ESPN, “Flagg would lie on the lounge flooring in entrance of the TV and watch the video games on a loop, one full recreation after one other.”
Flagg, 18, is projected by ESPN and others to be the primary total choose within the NBA Draft. The 6-foot-9 offensive machine graduated a 12 months early from highschool to enroll at Duke.
Flagg broke the ACC’s freshman recreation scoring document (42 points) and is the favorite to win the John Wood Award, given to the game’s most excellent participant. He’s also the first ACC player in the past 25 years to document no less than 500 factors, 100 assists and 30 blocks in a season.
Johni Broome | Auburn
Gotta love this: Per Yahoo’s Jeff Eisenberg, “Broome grew up in a football-obsessed household identified for producing cross rushers. His dad performed defensive finish. His older brother performed defensive finish. His cousin performed defensive finish. The expectation was that Johni would play defensive finish, too.”
As an alternative, the 6-foot-10 ahead ended up excelling at hoops. Broome is the only player in the shot-clock era to complete his profession with no less than 2,500 factors, 1,500 rebounds and 400 blocks. He was named the SEC Participant of the Yr and can also be a finalist for the celebrated Wood Award.
RJ Luis Jr. | St. John’s
Gotta love this: Per Steve Serby of the New York Post, Luis mentioned he is a “big-time” salt-water fisherman. The 6-foot-7 guard does not must go fishing for compliments, nonetheless. He was named the 2024-25 Big East Player of the Year, the primary from St. John’s since Walter Berry in 1985-86.
The Purple Storm took the convention, nicely, by storm this season. He’s the crew’s main scorer, averaging 18.4 points a game simply months after he was not sure if he may play at a excessive degree once more.
Luis Jr. suffered twin shin splints final season that required surgical procedure and a hand damage within the preseason this season. After receiving what he calls “new legs,” he’ll be seeking to lead this system to its first nationwide championship.
Walter Clayton Jr. | Florida
Gotta love this: Clayton Jr., a transfer from Iona, is the first Gator in program history to earn first-team All-American honors (Sporting Information).
Clayton Jr. almost transferred to St. John’s forward of the 2023-24 season after taking part in for head coach Rick Pitino his freshman 12 months. As an alternative, he selected Florida, the place he has reinvigorated this system to ranges not seen since its back-to-back nationwide titles in 2006 and 2007.
LJ Cryer | Houston
Gotta love this: He has one of many biggest collections of championship rings within the Massive 12.
After clinching a second consecutive Massive 12 regular-season title this 12 months on prime of conquering the convention event on Saturday, Houston’s Cryer shall be wanting so as to add his seventh championship ring to his assortment.
He additionally received two regular-season titles with Baylor in 2021 and 2022, together with a nationwide championship in 2021.
He’ll be operating out of fingers to show his jewellery if the Cougars, the No. 1 within the Midwest area, may also make a run on the nationwide championship this 12 months.
Mark Sears | Alabama
Gotta love this: In a 93-91 OT win over Auburn, Sears turned the primary participant in SEC historical past to defeat an AP No. 1- ranked foe with a buzzer beater, per ESPN. He is additionally the one participant in convention historical past to beat three separate AP No. 1 groups in a single profession.
Per USA Today’s Josh Peters, he took what his mom described because the “backroad route” to stardom, spending a 12 months at Hargrave Navy Academy his senior 12 months earlier than taking part in school ball at Ohio College after which Alabama.
Jase Richardson | Michigan State
Gotta love this: The freshman only entered the starting lineup on Feb. 8 and is now a important piece to go coach Tom Izzo’s rotation.
Richardson’s presence and talents can also bode nicely for Michigan State’s nationwide title prospects. His father, Jason Richardson, was a member of the 1999-2000 squad that received this system’s final NCAA Match title.
Ray’Sean Taylor | Southern Illinois College-Edwardsville
Gotta love this: He has overcome three knee surgeries and selected to remain at SIUE regardless of alternatives to switch to larger packages.
Taylor, the 2024-25 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year, is the varsity’s all-time leading scorer. He and head coach Brian Barone are a feel-good story ready to occur at this 12 months’s event.
“I do know this would be the 12 months that we simply recover from the hump … I wish to win a championship,” Taylor mentioned in January.
Kyler Filewich | Wofford
Gotta love this: He shoots his free throws “granny style” after being mentored by Basketball Corridor of Famer Rick Barry.
Filewich is not a family title, however he quickly might be. In addition to taking pictures old-school-style free throws, he leads Wofford in rebounds and shooting percentage. Filewich missed 14 straight free throws this season earlier than altering his kind.
“I put my ego apart. Profitable is extra vital to me than wanting cool or no matter. So, I’m keen to do it,” he mentioned, per FoxSportsCarolina.
