Spring is in the air and madness is beginning to tip-off.
College Basketball owns the month of March- ask anyone.
The conference tournaments have come and gone and now it is time to dance. No tournament is bigger than the NCAA Championship Tournament featuring 68 teams.
There are 45 players across 32 different teams playing in this year’s tournament with ties to Illinois. The list of teams includes those that are in the 32 regular bracket matchups as well as the play-in game teams.
Previous years’ lists only included those that graduated from an Illinois high school. Due to the ever-changing hoops landscape, it was time to expand. This list below includes any player that graduated from an Illinois high school, briefly attending an Illinois high school, and any Illinois native that opted to attend a school out of state.
Illinois has a rich history in this game and it must remain that way. For now, the list is expanded but one day it will return to normalcy with more Illinois talent staying in-state for high school and maybe even the do the same come time for college.
Play-In Games Teams
San Diego State
- Cam Lawin (Orr)
- 6-3, Sophomore
- Guard
- Appeared in just six games. He’s scored just three points and grabbed four rebounds (two offensive) in 14 minutes off the bench for the Aztecs.
- Pharaoh Compton (Chicago Native)
- 6-8, Freshman
- Forward
- 30 games (0 starts), 13.3 minutes, 5.4 points on 64.5 percent shooting, 2.4 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game.
Rest of Bracket
Louisville
- Kasean Pryor (Chicago Native)
- 6-9, Senior
- Forward
- 7 games (3 starts), 23.3 minutes, 12 points on 36.8 percent shooting, 6.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game.
Creighton
- Sami Osmani (Oak Lawn)
- 6-4, Senior
- Guard
- Played nine games off the bench for the Blue Jays. This season, he has scored just three points to go along with three rebounds, and two assists in 17 minutes.
Michigan
- Danny Wolf (Lake Forest Academy)
- 7-0, Junior
- Forward
- 34 games (34 starts), 30.2 minutes, 13.1 points on 50.3 percent shooting, 9.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game.
- Nimari Burnett (Morgan Park)
- 6-4, Senior
- Guard
- 34 games (34 starts), 26.8 minutes, 9.7 points on 48.7 percent shooting, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.9 steals per game. He also shot 40.6 on 4.6 attempts from beyond the arc.
- Ian Burns (New Trier
- 6-6, Senior
- Guard
- Played in six games for the Wolverines.
Yale
- John Poulakidas (Nequa Valley)
- 6-5, Senior
- Guard
- 26 games (26 starts), 31.4 minutes, 19.2 points on 45.4 percent shooting, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 0.6 steals per game. He also shot 40.9 percent on 7.8 attempts from beyond the arc and 89 percent from the free throw line.
UNC
- James Brown (St. Rita)
- 6-10, Freshman
- Forward
- 18 games (0 starts), 2.9 minutes, 1.2 points on 71.4 percent shooting and 0.8 rebounds per game.
Iowa State
- Nojus Indrusaitis (St. Rita)
- 6-5, Freshman
- Guard
- 14 games (0 starts), 6.1 minutes, and 2.2 points on 33.3 percent shooting.
Michigan State
- Jeremy Fears (Joliet West)
- 6-2, Sophomore
- Guard
- 32 games (32 starts), 23.2 minutes, 7.4 points on 41.4 percent shooting, 2.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.
Oklahoma City
- Jeremiah Fears (Joliet West)
- 6-4, Freshman
- Guard
- 33 games (30 starts), 30 minutes, 17 points on 43.6 percent shooting, 4.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.6 steals per game.
Colorado State
- Keshawn Williams (Bloom)
- 6-3, Senior
- Guard
- 34 games (0 starts), 14.1 minutes, 5.3 points on 50.4 percent shooting, 1.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.
Missouri State
- Danny Stephens (South Eastern)
- 6-7, Redshirt Freshman
- Forward/Guard
- Did not play this season.
Drake
- Nate Ferguson (Lemont)
- 6-8, Senior
- Forward
- 31 games (0 starts), 9.4 minutes, 3.0 points on 66.1 percent shooting and 1.5 rebounds per game.
- Mitch Mascari (Geneva)
- 6-5, Senior
- Guard
- 33 games (33 starts), 38.5 minutes, 9.8 points on 39.9 percent shooting, 2.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. He also shot 41 percent on 6.4 attempts from beyond the arc.
UNCW
- Donovan Newby (Bloom)
- 6-1, Senior
- Guard
- 34 games (34 starts), 32 minutes, 14.6 points on 39.1 percent shooting, 2.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. He also shot 35.7 percent on 6.2 attempts from beyond the arc.
Kansas
- Justin Cross (Oak Park River Forest)
- 6-8, Senior
- Guard
- Appeared in four games for the JayHawks- all off the bench. This season, he has scored four points (2-2 FG) to go with two rebounds, an assist, a steal, and two blocks in eight minutes on the court.
- AJ Storr (Kankakee)
- 6-6, Junior
- Guard
- 33 games (4 starts), 15.3 minutes, 5.8 points on 37.7 percent shooting, 1.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.
Omaha
- Kamryn Thomas (Hillcrest)
- 6-8, Junior
- Forward
- 34 games (29 starts), 24.3 minutes, 6.4 points on 44.3 percent shooting, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game. He also shot 37.8 percent on 2.6 attempts from beyond the arc.
Baylor
- Kaleb Jackson (Carmel Catholic)
- Walk on for the Bears.
Liberty
- Zach Cleveland (Normal Community)
- 6-7, Junior
- Forward
- 31 games (31 starts), 32 minutes, 11 points on 49.1 percent shooting, 6.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 0.7 steals, and one block per game.
Akron
- Tavari Johnson (Lyons)
- 5-11, Junior
- Guard
- 34 games (34 starts), 24.7 minutes, 13 points on 46.1 percent shooting, 1.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 0.8 steals per game. He also shot 39.2 percent on 4.2 attempts from beyond the arc.
Wisconsin
- Xavier Amos (Whitney Young)
- 6-8, Junior
- Forward
- 35 games (0 starts), 9.6 minutes, 3.4 points on 36.9 percent shooting, 1.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.
- Chris Hodges (Schaumburg)
- 6-9, Junior
- Forward
- Appeared in 14 games for the Badgers.
Alabama
- Max Scharnowski (Wheaton Academy)
- 6-6, Senior
- Forward
- Appeared in eight games- all off the bench. He has two points and four rebounds in 14 minutes on the court this season.
SIUE
- Darrion Baker (Hillcrest)
- 6-8, Freshman
- Forward
- 10 games (0 starts), 15.1 minutes, 5.9 points on 53.7 percent shooting, 4.3 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game.
- Declan Dillon (Peoria Notre Dame)
- 6-0, Junior
- Guard
- 32 games (0 starts), 12 minutes, 2.3 points on 42.9 percent shooting, 2.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.5 steals per game.
- Jordan Pickett (Belleville East)
- 6-3, Sophomore
- Guard
- 33 games (0 starts), 11.6 minutes, 3.5 points on 40.2 percent shooting, 1.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.
- Arnes Sakenis (Andrew)
- 6-11, Junior
- Forward
- 25 games (16 starts), 16.4 minutes, 4.5 points on 54.2 percent shooting, 3.9 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 1.8 blocks per game.
- Ray’Sean Taylor (Collinsville)
- 6-1, Senior
- Guard
- 33 games (33 starts), 32.3 minutes, 19.3 points on 41.4 percent shooting, 4.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. He also shot 34.6 percent on 8 attempts from beyond the arc. Also, Taylor shot 84.6 on 5.7 free throw attempts per game.
- Kyle Thomas (Benet)
- 6-10, Sophomore
- Forward
- 23 games (16 starts), 14.5 minutes, 6.0 points on 54.2 percent shooting, 3.3 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 1.0 blocks per game.
Gonzaga
- Braden Huff (Glenbard West)
- 6-10, Sophomore
- Forward
- 33 games (2 starts), 16 minutes, 10.8 points on 57 percent shooting, 3.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists, and 0.6 blocks per game.
Clemson
- Asa Thomas (Lake Forest)
- 6-8, Freshman
- Guard
- 12 games, 2.3 minutes, and 1.2 points on 40 percent shooting
McNeese
- Sincere Parker (Rockford East)
- 6-3, Junior
- Guard
- 32 games (0 starts), 19.8 minutes, 12.1 points on 44 percent shooting, 2.5 rebounds, 0.6 assists, and 0.8 steals per game.
- Christian Shumate (Bloom)
- 6-6, Senior
- Guard
- 33 games (33 starts), 27.3 minutes,10.5 points on 61.9 percent shooting, 6.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game.
Purdue
- Daniel Jacobsen (Chicago Native)
- 7-2, Freshman
- Center
- Has been sidelined since November. He fractured his tibia in the first minutes on the court of his second game and was confirmed out for the season following the game.
- In his first game, he started for the Boilermakers and scored 13 points (4-6 FG, 0-1 3PT, 5-7 FT) with seven rebounds (one offensive) and three blocks in 25 minutes.
Illinois
- Kylan Boswell (Champaign Native)
- 6-2, Junior
- Guard
- 33 games (32 starts), 30.5 minutes, 11.9 points on 41.2 percent shooting, 4.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.
- Jason Jakstys (Yorkville)
- 6-10, Redshirt Freshman
- Forward
- Out for season.
- Morez Johnson Jr. (Thornton)
- 6-9, Freshman
- Forward
- 28 games (8 starts), 17.8 minutes, 7.1 points on 64 percent shooting, 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.
- AJ Redd (St. Ignatius)
- 6-3, Junior
- Guard
- Appeared in 14 games off the bench. He’s scored just three points to go along with eight rebounds (two offensive), two assists, a steal, and a turnover in 28 minutes on the court this season.
- Ty Rodgers (Thornton)
- 6-6, Redshirt Junior
- Guard
- Out for season.
Texas
- Jayson Kent (Oak Forest)
Xavier
- Dante Maddox Jr. (Bloom)
- 6-2, Senior
- Guard
- 32 games (0 starts), 18.9 minutes, 7.2 points on 40.2 percent shooting, 2.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.8 steals per game. He also shot 40 percent on 3.3 attempts from beyond the arc.
UCLA
- Sebastion Mack (Chicago Native)
- 6-3, Sophomore
- Guard
- 32 games (1 starts), 21.2 minutes, 10 points on 43.3 percent shooting, 2.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 0.9 steals per game.
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