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The 64-team NCAA men’s basketball tournament begins Thursday, and several Canadians look poised to play big roles in the bracket — none bigger (both figuratively and quite literally) than Zach Edey, the 7-foot-4 giant who stars for Purdue, one of the top title contenders.
Edey didn’t start playing basketball until high school in his native Toronto. Now he’s widely considered the best college player in the United States after winning the NCAA player of the year award last season and giving himself a great chance to repeat. Edey leads the nation in points this season with 24.4 per game and ranks third in rebounding with 11.7 for a Purdue team that went 29-4 to land one of the four No. 1 seeds in the tournament for the second straight year.
Edey’s Boilermakers are seeking redemption for last year’s disaster, when they lost to Fairleigh Dickinson in the opening round to become just the second No. 1 seed in history to fall to a 16. In the aftermath of that devastating defeat, Edey changed his mind about entering the NBA draft and returned to Purdue. He got in better shape, sharpened his skills and became an even more unstoppable force, increasing both his scoring and assist averages along with his efficiency. His teammates improved too, especially in the all-important three-point shooting, while Edey hit the first (and still only) trey of his career.
WATCH | Edey among Canadian NCAAers unable to profit off likeness in United States:
Unlike their American counterparts, Canadian NCAA athletes — including basketball star Zach Edey — aren’t allowed to make money off of their name, image and likeness in the United States because of visa restrictions. That means they’re missing out on some potentially big paycheques.
As a result, the Boilermakers earned another No. 1 seed and seem better equipped to make a deep run this time in the not-especially-tough-looking Midwest region of the bracket. Plus, Edey is now projected as a first-round NBA draft choice after concerns last year that he wouldn’t get picked at all because his old-school skills and relative lack of mobility might not translate to the modern pro game.
Here’s a look at some more Canadians playing prominent roles on the road to the Final Four in Phoenix:
Quincy Guerrier, Illinois (No. 3 seed in East region): Canada’s all-time leader in NCAA games played is on his third team in four years. The senior forward from Montreal spent two seasons each at Syracuse and Oregon before transferring to Illinois, where he averaged 10 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds for the Big Ten conference champs. The Fighting Illini are in the same region as top overall seed UConn, which is favoured to become the first back-to-back champ in 17 years.
Ryan Nembhard, Gonzaga (No. 5 in Midwest): The junior point guard from Aurora, Ont., transferred from Creighton after last season, following in his older brother’s footsteps. Andrew Nembhard, also a point guard, switched from Florida to Gonzaga before getting picked in the second round of the 2022 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers. Like his big bro, Ryan is primarily a playmaker. He leads the Bulldogs with 6.7 assists per game, and last week he broke the record for most dimes in a single NCAA season by a Canadian. Gonzaga is trying for a remarkable ninth consecutive trip to the Sweet 16, where it would likely face Edey’s Purdue.
Tyrese Samuel, Florida (No. 7 in South): The 6-foot-10 senior forward from Montreal tops his team in rebounding (7.5 per game) and ranks third in points (14.0). The Gators are in the same region as Houston, the second-ranked team in the country.
Emanuel Miller, TCU (No. 9 in Midwest): Miller is the Horned Frogs’ leading scorer and rebounder, averaging almost 16 points and six boards a game. The senior forward from Scarborough, Ont., could meet Edey’s Purdue in the second round.
Other Canadians to watch:
* The delightfully named Kobe Elvis is the top assist man for Dayton, the No. 7 seed in the West. Elvis, a junior guard from Brampton, Ont., is averaging 9.5 points per game for the Flyers.
* Senior guard Jaden Campbell (also from Brampton) averages 11 points a game and is the top three-point marksman for Samford, a 13 seed with a puncher’s chance of knocking out banged-up 4 seed Kansas in the first round in the Midwest.
“Canadians” to watch:
Houston’s Emanuel Sharp and Auburn’s Aden Holloway are touted as Canadian by some media outlets, but the connections seem shaky to me.
Sharp’s hometown is listed as Tampa, Fla., he went to high school there and he was born in Israel, where his American dad and Canadian mom (a former University of Toronto standout) both played pro basketball. Holloway was born and raised in Charlotte, N.C., but has dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship through his Calgary-born mother. Her American father, Dave Raimey, starred in the CFL in the 1960s and ’70s and is a Canadian Football Hall of Famer.
The desire to claim these guys is understandable. Sharp, a sophomore guard for Houston, is averaging a dozen points a game for probably the second-best team in the tournament. Holloway, a freshman guard, is averaging 7.6 for an Auburn team that appears wildly underseeded at No. 4 in the East, where the Tigers are a threat to take out defending champ UConn in the Sweet 16.
For a complete list of Canadians in the NCAA men’s tournament, see this story on the Canadian website Basketball Buzz.
We’ll cover the Canadians to watch in the women’s tournament in tomorrow’s newsletter. In the meantime, here are some of them.