Inside Sport heads to the USA this week to sample March Madness, the shorthand name for the year-end national college basketball tournament.
Inside Sport is heading over to the United States this week to sample March Madness, the shorthand name for the year-end national college basketball tournament. It’s one of the great American sporting events, combining an unpredictable, FA Cup-like romance with undergraduate enthusiasm. The tournament plays out over three weekends, winnowing out the field of 68 to the Final Four, which will assemble in Atlanta.
There are at least 17 Australians on tournament-bound teams, a number which reflects the impact that Aussie hoopsters are having on college basketball. If you’re seeking a team to back, keep an eye on the progress of the University of New Mexico, which has a pair of Aussie starters in Hugh Greenwood and Cameron Bairstow. The Lobos, based in out of-the-way Albuquerque, might just be the most underrated of the top contenders.
Another overlooked outfit is St Louis University, which features Perth big man Cody Ellis, and has a terrific story going for it – their coach, Rick Majerus (who recruited Andrew Bogut to the University of Utah back in the day), died earlier in the season at age 64. The team has responded with a superb campaign, and will be a danger against more fancied opponents.
One other team of note: St Mary’s, the de facto Team Australia of college basketball, which has four on its roster as well as an assistant coach. Star guard Matthew Dellavedova will be playing his last college games, as will fellow senior Mitchell Young. Matt Hodgson might figure as a reserve big, but guard Jorden Page is out with a knee injury. The Gaels have been given a tough task, having to go through the extra play-in game, which means they’ll have to win three games to emulate their feats of 2010, when they made it to the Sweet Sixteen.
The rest of the NCAA teams boasting Aussies this March: Valparaiso (Ryan Broekhoff), Boise State (Anthony Drmic, Igor Hadziomerovic), North Carolina State (Jordan Vandenburg), Butler (Jackson Aldridge), Colorado (Shane Harris-Tunks), Albany (Sam Rowley, Peter Hooley, Luke Devlin) and Pacific (Spencer Llewellyn).
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