March Madness is considered to basketball fans as one of the greatest moments of the year in sports. In New England we have been glued to the screen rooting for our local colleges and universities to move on to the next round of the NCCA tournament. Each team has failed to do so but there’s still hope.
We have reached the sweet 16 and 11 out of 16 teams that remain in the NCAA tournament feature a player on their roster that played High School hoops in New England. The region has been a talent pool for quite some time now and has propelled with recent NBA draft picks Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel, Noah Vonleh, Ricardo Ledo, Mitch McGary, TJ Warren to name a few.
For the 21 students representing New England has the same goal in mind and that’s to win a national championship. Although neither of the players are projected to be NBA Draft picks in 2015. But with a good showing in the field of 16 anything can happen.
Let’s take a look at some of the match-ups featuring former New England high school hoops players still in the tournament.
Wichita St. a No. 7 seed who features Zach Brown (South Kent, CT) will take on Pat Connaughton (St. John’s Prep, MA), Bonzie Colson (St. Andrews, RI), and Zach Auguste (New Hampton, NH) of the No. 3 seed Notre Dame. Zach Brown, whose 7 points helped the Shockers control a game from start to finish and beat Kansas to advance to the Sweet 16. The fighting Irish on the other hand took an overtime win over Butler to reach the field of 16. Connaughton and Auguste combined for 22 rebounds. A huge block (5 on the night) from Connaughton at the end of regulation sent the game into OT. Notre Dame had a New England connection to reach point beating Northeastern in the opening round and then beating Butler which features Rhode Island Andrew Chrabascz.
West Virginia made some noise early this week when Daxter Miles Jr (Notre Dame Prep, MA) stated how Kentucky would be 36-1 after their Thursday night match-up. Elijah Macon (Brewster Academy, NH) will help Miles and the Mountaineers battle against the Kentucky Wildcats for a spot in the Elite 8. The Wildcats feature Sam Malone (Tilton,NH), a Scituate, MA that serves as a walk-on.
Xavier brought in a top class of recruits in 2012 that featured Myles Davis (Notre Dame Prep, MA), James Farr (MCI, ME), Jalen Reynolds and Semaj Christion (Breswter Academy, NH). Christion has moved on to the NBA while his former counterparts will face Kaleb Tarczewski (St. Mark’s, MA) and the Arizona Wildcats. Tarczewski anchors the defense for the Wildcats and the match up against Farr and Reynolds will be a tough one down low.
Bo Ryan and the Wisconsin Badgers are favored to make the Final 4 but face a tough North Carolina who is coming off their best tournament win against Arkansas. Jordan Hill (Phillip Exeter Academy, NH) is one of several bench players who help propel the Badgers into making a back to back sweet 16 appearance.
Duke faces a match-up against Utah who knocked off Georgetown convincingly and showed promise that the game against the Blue Devils could come down to the last shot. Sean Obi (Green Farms Academy, CT) and Nick Pagliuca (Milton Academy, MA) workout out with the Blue Devils but have not logged in minutes. Obi and Rice transfer and Pagliuca a walk-on could help the program long term.
UCLA who started off as a bubble team has found their way to the sweet 16. Jonah Bolden (Brewster Academy, NH) is not eligible to play this year but will be one of the Bruins best newcomers next season. The Bruins face the Gonzaga Bulldogs that features Dustin Triano (New Hampton, NH) and Angel Nunez (Notre Dame Prep, MA). Triano a walk-on and Nunez a Louisville transfer have logged in minimal minutes but could hear their number called if Head Coach Mark Few is forced to go deep into his bench.
Louisville and NC State should be a dog fight to the end. The Louisville Cardinals is led by 6-foot-8 workhorse Montrezl Harrell who is no stranger to New England prep players having played in the National Prep Showcase. Harrell will face a front-court that features Abdul-Malik Abu (Kimbal Union Academy, NH) and Kyle Washington (Brewster Academy, NH) of NC State. Abu is coming off one of his best games of the season registering 13 points and 12 rebounds in a upset win over Villanova. Washington serves as a rim protector and will need all the defensive stops he can collect when Terry Rozier attacks that paint. Patrick Wallace (Brewster Academy, NH) is a walk on who logged in minimal minutes this season for the Wolfpack.
One thing that’s for certain is a former New England player will be playing in the Elite 8.