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New England Prep Players to Watch in the NCAA Tournament

By
Adam Finkelstein
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If you’re a New England basketball fan getting ready to call out sick Thursday and/or Friday for the NCAA tournament, here’s all you need to know about where former local prep products can be seen during the big dance.

Tuesday, March 19th

6:40pm – Prairie View A&M vs. Fairleigh Dickinson

St. Andrew’s alum Chancellor Ellis has seen action in 33 games off the bench for Prairie View while averaging almost 5pts on 37% shooting from behind the arc.

9:10pm – Temple vs. Belmont

Former Springfield Commonwealth big man Arashman Parks red-shirted this year after suffering a pre-season injury.

Wednesday, March 20th

6:40pm – NC Central vs. North Dakota State

Former Loomis Chaffee post-graduate Reggie Gardner Jr. played in all 32 games for NCC, averaging over 17 minutes and 6 points per night.

9:10pm – St. John’s vs. Arizona State

New Hampton alum Kimani Lawrence started 15 of 32 games for Arizona State this year averaging 8.7pts and 3.6rebs in 25.1mins.

Lee Academy alum Vitaliy Shibel appeared in 15 games off the bench. Sacred Heart (CT) alum Mustapha Heron put up 14.9pts, 4.7rebs, and 1.3 assists per game for the Johnnies while Brewster Academy alum Justin Simon was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year and averaged 10.4pts, 5.0rebs, 3.2asts, and 1.4stls.

L.J. Figueroa is a Massachusetts native who started his high school career on the Lawrence High School JV team.

Thursday, March 21st

12:15pm – Minnesota vs. Louisville

Vermont Academy alum Jordan Nwora led Louisville in scoring at 17.2pts and also grabbed 7.5rebs while earning ACC Most Improved Player of the Year.

St. Thomas More alum Steve Enoch averaged 19.1mins, 9.3pts, and 5.2rebs while started 14 of 33 games for the Cardinals.

12:40pm – Yale vs. LSU

Notre Dame (West Haven, CT) alum Tremont Waters led LSU in scoring, assists, and steals this year with 15.9pts, 5.9asts, and 3 steals while adding 3.4 rebounds per game.

Former Suffield Academy post-graduate Miye Oni put up 17.6pts, 6.3reb, 5.9ast, and 3stls per game for Yale while Rivers alum Azar Swain provided almost 8pts per game off the bench.

KUA alum Eze Dike and Hotchkiss alum Thomas Ryan are also on the roster.

1:30pm – New Mexico State vs. Auburn

Milton High School graduate Keyon Jones played in 29 games, and started 6, for New Mexico State.

2:00pm – Vermont vs. Florida State

Tilton alum Terance Mann is the leader for Florida State, averaging 11.2 pts, 6.4 rebs, and 2.5 assists in 31.6 minutes.

Vermont has five local products on the roster. Salisbury alum Samuel Dingba started 22 of 29 games up front. Former Gould post-graduate Skyler Nash was limited by injury all year long while Vermont Academy alum Bailey Patella appeared in 20 games. Rice Memorial alum Ben Shungu started 5 of 31 games this year while Burling alum Kevin Garrison appeared in 7.

2:45pm – Bradley vs. Michigan State

N/A

3:10pm – Maryland vs. Belmont/Temple winner

Putnam Science graduate Eric Ayala started 31 of 32 games and averaged 85.pts, 2.8reb, and 2.1ast for Maryland while KUA graduate Travis Valmon appeared in 5 games.

4:00pm – Northeastern vs. Kansas

North Quincy alum and former Tilton post-graduate Anthony Green started all 32 games at center for Northeastern averaging 8.9pts and 5.3rebs.

New Hampton alum Jeremy Miller appeared in 27 games off the bench while Northfield Mount Hermon alum Tomas Murphy started 8 of 29 games and average 8.1pts.

Kent alum Maximie Boursiquot missed the season with injury while Lee Academy alum Shaq Walters appeared in 10 games.

4:30pm – Murray State vs. Marquette

N/A

6:50pm – Florida vs. Nevada

Former Brewster Academy guard Michael Okauru appeared in 34 games for Florida while Boston Trinity Academy alum Nisre Zouzoua appeared in 21 games for Nevada (where former Worcester Academy big man Patrick Ackerman is currently a grad assistant).

7:10pm – Abilene Christian vs. Kentucky

MacDuffie alum Brad Calipari is currently red-shirting while playing for his father, John Calipari, at Kentucky.

Big man Nick Richards never played high school basketball in New England but ran with Expressions in the EYBL.

7:20pm – St. Mary’s vs. Villanova

St. Thomas More alum Eric Paschall started all 34 games for Villanova and put up over 16pts and 6rebs while Rivers alum Jermaine Samuels started 20 of 33 games as a sophomore averaging 6.1pts and 5.4rebs.

St. Andrew’s alum Cole Swider appeared in 20 games but missed the better part of two months with injury.

Former Brewster Academy product Malik Fitts started 32 of 33 games for St. Mary’s, averaging 15.3pts and 7.6rebs while New Hampton alum Kristers Zorkis missed the season with injury.

7:27pm – Gonzaga vs. FDU/Prairie View

Gonzaga freshman big man Filip Petrusev, who appeared in 31 games this year, began his high school career at Avon Old Farms before finishing at Montverde Academy in Florida.

9:20pm – Montana vs. Michigan

Former St. Thomas More post-graduate Adrien Nunez played in 17 games this year for Michigan.

9:40pm – Seton Hall vs. Wofford

Former South Kent post-grad Myles Powell led Seton Hall in scoring with 22.9pts while also averaging 4rebs, 3asts, and 2.2stls.

Connecticut native Quincy McKnight started 32 of 33 games for the Pirates while averaging 9.5pts, 4ast, and 2.5rebs.

South Kent alum Anthony Nelson played in all 33 games off the bench while former Brewster Academy big man Taurean Thompson averaged 4.8pts in 26 games.

Putnam Science alum Darnell Brodie appeared in 9 games. New Hampton alum Donovan Love saw action in 10 games for Wofford.

9:50pm – Old Dominion vs. Purdue

Former Brewster Academy forward Aaron Wheeler played in all 32 games for Purdue averaging just under 5pts per game.

Former South Kent forward Aaron Carver started all 34 games for ODU, where his former coach Kelvin Jefferson is now an assistant. Loren Brill appeared in 7 games.

9:57pm – Baylor vs. Syracuse

Syracuse has five New England alums on their roster including Fairfield Prep’s Paschal Chukwu (a former PC Friar), South Kent’s Elijah Hughes, and Brewster’s Buddy Boeheim.

Chukwu started 27 of 32 games and averaged almost 2 blocks per game while Hughes started all 33 and led the team with 81 threes while scoring 13.4pts. Boeheim averaged 6.9pts in 16.6mins through 31 games.

Brendan Paul and Ray Featherston appeared in 9 and 4 games respectively.

Hotchkiss alum Makai Mason started all 26 games he was healthy for Baylor, averaging 14.6pts, 3.3asts, and 2.5rebs per game.

Friday, March 22nd

12:15pm – Iowa vs. Cincinnati

Cane Broome averaged 7.9pts and 2.4asts as Cincy’s 6th man this year while former South Kent product Trevor Moore played in all 34 games.

12:40pm – Oklahoma vs. Ole Miss

Lee Academy alum Aaron Calixte started 19 of 32 games for Oklahoma while averaging 7pts. Former Woodstock Academy post-graduate Luis Rodriguez appeared in 24 games for Ole Miss.

1:30pm – Northern Kentucky vs. Texas Tech

Texas Tech features a pair of former Putnam Science big men in Malik Ondigo and Josh Mballa, who appeared in 16 and 15 games respectively.

2:00pm – UC Irvine vs. Kansas State

East Catholic alum Mike McGuirl averaged almost 17min and 4pts per game as a consistent part of Kansas State’s rotation.

2:45pm – Colgate vs. Tennessee

Former Brewster Academy big man Rapolas Ivanauskas started all 34 games for Colgate and averaged 16.4pts, 7.9rebs, and 1.8ast.

Former Kent post-graduated Jordan Burns started all 29 games he appeared in and was second on the team in scoring at 15.8pts while leading the team in assists with 5.8.

Former New Hampton alum Will Rayman was third with 13.1pts, 6.5rebs, and 1.9asts.

Malcolm Regisford appeared in all 34 games, averaging 6.6pts and 3.6rebs, while NMH alum Zach Light played in 14.

3:10pm – Gardner-Webb vs. Virginia

Gardner-Webb features two former Putnam Science products in Jaheam Cornwall and Jose Perez. Cornwall started 10 of 34 games and averaged 6.3pts, 2.8asts, and 2.4rebs. Perez started 25 of 34 games and averaged 15pts, 5.8rebs, and 3asts as a freshman.

Former Choate post-graduate Jayden Nixon appeared in 13 games for UVA.

4:00pm – Buffalo vs. Arizona St/St John’s

See above…

4:30pm – Oregon vs. Wisconsin

Former Brewster Academy big man Miles Norris played in 25 games this year for Oregon.

6:50pm – Washington vs. Utah State

Former Brewster Academy guard David Crisp started all 33 games for Washington and averaged 12.7pts, 2.7asts, and 2.2rebs. Another former Bobcat, Nate Roberts, is currently red-shirting.

KUA alum Crew Ainge started all 18 games he played in this year for Utah State.

7:10pm – Duke vs. NC Central/N. Dakota St

7:20pm – Georgia State vs. Houston

Former Notre Dame Prep big man Brison Gresham played in all 34 games for Houston.

7:27pm – Liberty vs. Mississippi State

Former Trinity Catholic forward Tevin Baskin is a graduate assistant at Mississippi State.

9:20pm – Iona vs. North Carolina

NMH alum Andrew Platek played in 29 games for the Tar Heels while New Hampton alum Walker Miller saw time in 17.

St. Thomas More alum E.J. Crawford led Iona in scoring with 17.9pts while starting all 32 games and also averaging 5.1rebs.

9:40pm – Central Florida vs. VCU

Vermont Academy alum Marcus Santos-Silva started all 32 games and averaged 10.1pts, 7.4rebs, and 1.1blks while shooting 60% from the floor while Bunnell grad Isaac Vann also started all 32 games and averaged 10.9pts, 3.5rebs, 2.2asts, and 1.2stls.

New Hampton alum Aubrey Dawkins plays for his dad, Johnny Dawkins, at UCG and was the team’s second-leading scorer with over 15pts per game.

9:50pm – Iowa State vs. Ohio State

N/A

9:57pm – Saint Louis vs. Virginia Tech

Springfield Commonwealth alumn Hasahn French starts for SLU and averages nearly a double-double (9.3pts & 8.4rebs) along with 1.8blks in over 30 minutes per game. Bridgton Academy alum Elliot Welmer is also on the roster.

Cushing Academy graduate Wabissa Bede started 23 of 32 games and averaged over 25 minutes/game this year for Virginia Tech as a sophomore.

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