NCAA March Madness 2014 – Meet The Canadians!
March Madness tips off tomorrow and as a Canadian basketball fan there is reason to celebrate. We know that Canadian players have been making a name for themselves in the NCAA and the NBA over the last few years – heck, we’re producing lottery type talent in the NBA.
But this year I am more than impressed with the sheer number of Canadian players who will be uniform and/or on the court during the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament. After looking through all 68 rosters on their official websites, I have found 31 Canadian players to watch during March Madness this year.
31!
That’s awesome.
Basketball fans already know the names Brady Heslip, Nik Stauskas and Tyler Ennis. And everyone knows the name Andrew Wiggins thanks to his incredible talent and the hype machine. But that still leaves 27 other names to learn and look our for as March Madness gets underway.
Here are all 31 players, listed by their school, in alphabetical order…
| Jordan Bachynski | Calgary, AB | Arizona State |
| Brady Heslip | Burlington, ON | Baylor |
| Kenny Chery | Montreal, QC | Baylor |
| Jahenns Manigat | Ottawa, ON | Creighton |
| Dyshawn Pierre | Whitby, ON | Dayton |
| Jaylen Babb-Harrison | Ajax, ON | Eastern Kentucky |
| Dustin Triano | Tsawwassen, BC | Gonzaga |
| Kevin Pangos | Landing, ON | Gonzaga |
| Kyle Wiltjer | Portland, OR (Canadian citizenship) | Gonzaga |
| Agunwa Okolie | Ajax, ON | Harvard |
| Laurent Rivard | Saint Bruno, QC | Harvard |
| Melvin Ejim | Toronto, ON | Iowa State |
| Naz Long | Mississauga, ON | Iowa State |
| Andrew Wiggins | Vaughan, ON | Kansas |
| Justin Edwards | Whitby, ON | Kansas State |
| Nik Stauskas | Mississauga, ON | Michigan |
| Daniel Mullings | Toronto, ON | New Mexico State |
| Renaldo Dixon | Toronto, ON | New Mexico State |
| Sim Bhullar | Toronto, ON | New Mexico State |
| Tanveer Bhullar | Toronto, ON | New Mexico State |
| Jason Calliste | Toronto, ON | Oregon |
| Richard Amardi | Toronto, ON | Oregon |
| Junior Lomomba | Montreal, QC | Providence |
| Grandy Glaze | Toronto, ON | Saint Louis |
| Dwight Powell | Toronto, ON | Stanford |
| Stefan Nastic | Thornhill, ON | Stanford |
| Tyler Ennis | Brampton, ON | Syracuse |
| Dylan Ennis | Brampton, ON | Villanova |
| Chadwick Lufile | Burlington, ON | Wichita State |
| Nick Wiggins | Toronto, ON | Wichita State |
Here’s hoping that all of the Canadian kids are able to contribute and take away some sort of positive experience from the 2014 NCAA tournament.
I know I’ll be cheering for them.
Unless they’re playing against a team I’m cheering for and have picked on my bracket.
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Team Canada is looking pretty good for the future! Ennis, Wiggins, Ejim, Tristan Thompson, Olynyk…maybe get Steve Nash to coach!