The men’s NCAA Tournament bracket is about. Now faculty 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 middle 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] have been good folks however not as good [as Kansans],” the 24-year-old informed 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, faculty 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 ground 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 general decide within the NBA Draft. The 6-foot-9 offensive machine graduated a yr 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 Picket Award, given to the game’s most excellent participant. He’s also the first ACC player in the past 25 years to document not 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 recognized for producing move 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 a substitute, 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 not less than 2,500 factors, 1,500 rebounds and 400 blocks. He was named the SEC Participant of the 12 months and can be a finalist for the celebrated Picket 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 Crimson Storm took the convention, properly, by storm this season. He’s the workforce’s main scorer, averaging 18.4 points a game simply months after he was uncertain if he may play at a excessive stage once more.
Luis Jr. suffered twin shin splints final season that required surgical procedure and a hand harm within the preseason this season. After receiving what he calls “new legs,” he’ll be trying 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 yr. As a substitute, 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 Huge 12.
After clinching a second consecutive Huge 12 regular-season title this yr on high of conquering the convention event on Saturday, Houston’s Cryer will likely be trying so as to add his seventh championship ring to his assortment.
He additionally gained 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, also can make a run on the nationwide championship this yr.
