Canada Takes Over the 2019 March Madness Tournament
March 26, 2019The 2019 March Madness tournament is loaded with Canadian talent and directly reflects the record-breaking year it was for basketball in the Great White North. An unprecedented total of 133 Canadians played on a Division-1 NCAA team this season with some making it all the way to college basketball’s biggest stage.
The national tournament started with 19 total Canadian participants on 17 different teams. Two rounds have passed and only 16 of the 68 teams are left standing. Despite this, many Canucks still remain and are hungry for a national title. So, let’s meet the players left in the tournament that are leading the Canadian March Madness takeover heading into the Sweet 16.
Duke Blue Devils
RJ Barrett
RJ Barrett is an 18-year-old freshman from Mississauga, Ontario. He is not only the highest rated Canadian prospect in the tournament but, is also one of the most anticipated young basketball stars in the entire world.
Barrett led Canada to a FIBA U19 Men’s Basketball World Cup gold medal in June 2018 where he averaged 21.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists. He attended Montverde Academy, a decorated high school basketball program in Florida, and was rated by ESPN and many other notable rankings as the No.1 overall recruit in the class of 2018.
After receiving offers from big-name basketball colleges such as Oregon, Kentucky and Michigan, he announced that he would be heading to Duke. Barrett has started and played in 36 games so far this season for the Blue Devils while averaging a team-high 22.8 points. His dominant play this season earned him First-team All-ACC honors, was selected as a First-team All-American by the United States Basketball Writers Association and Sporting News and, was named National Player of the Year by USA Today.
Barrett is predicted to get selected at No. 2 in most NBA mock drafts, behind his teammate Zion Williamson and will surely be an impact NBA player when he steps into the association next season.
Barrett will look to lead Duke to a national championship but, must first get through a tough Virginia Tech Hokies team that possesses two fellow countryman.
Virginia Tech Hokies
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Nickeil Alexander-Walker is a 20-year-old sophomore from Toronto, Ontario. He bounced around during his high-school basketball playing days first attending Vaughn Secondary School in Canada before transferring to St. Louis Christian Academy in Missouri. He then moved to Tennessee to wrap up his high school career at Hamilton Heights Christian Academy. Alexander-Walker also played for Team Canada at the U18 FIBA Americas Championship and led his home country to a silver medal. ESPN had him ranked as a 5-star recruit and No.25 on the ESPN 100 list.
Alexander-Walker received offers from USC and Maryland before officially committing to Virginia Tech. He kicked off his collegiate career with a dominant 24-point performance and went on to start all 33 games for the Hokies in his freshman year. During this year’s sophomore season, he racked up eleven 20-point games, averaged a team-best 16.4 points and earned Third-team All-ACC honors.
Alexander-Walker is seen as a first-round NBA talent, with most mock NBA drafts having him selected mid to late first round. He will look to translate the great success he has had at Virginia Tech to the NBA level.
Jonathan Kabongo
Jonathan Kabongo is a 20-year-old freshman also from Toronto, Ontario. He too passed through a few high-schools, starting at Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut and Thornlea Secondary in Toronto for his first year, then ultimately settled down in West Virginia at Huntington Prep for his final three years. He represented Canada in the U16 FIBA Americas Championship where he brought back a silver medal to his home nation.
Kabongo considered attending Indiana, Louisville and Ohio State but made the decision to become a Hokie of Virginia Tech. Currently in his first year with the program, Kabongo is still adjusting to the collegiate level and will be sure to use this tournament experience in his development. Keep an eye out for him to be a bigger contributor in his years to come at Virginia Tech.
Alexander-Walker, Kabongo and the rest of the Virginia Tech Hokies will go head to head against RJ Barrett and the Blue Devils in hopes of knocking off one of the tournament’s best teams.
Gonzaga Bulldogs
Brandon Clarke
Brandon Clarke is a 22-year-old redshirt junior from Vancouver, British Columbia. He attended Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, Arizona and led them to a state championship game in 2015.
After high school, he took his talents to San Jose State where in his freshman year was the Mountain West Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year. Clarke virtually doubled his stat line in his sophomore year, averaging a team-best 8.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks and was awarded First-Team All-Mountain West and Mountain West All-Defensive Team honors.
He then decided to transfer to Gonzaga and redshirted his junior year. Clarke suited up for the Bulldogs for the first time this season starting 34 of 35 games while averaging a team-high 8.4 rebounds and 3.1 blocks, a season performance worthy of West Coast Conference (WCC) Defensive Player of the Year, WCC Newcomer of the Year and Sporting News’ Third-team All-American.
Clarke continued his dominant play into March Madness with a school NCAA tournament-record 36-point performance against Baylor in the second round. He became only the third player in NCAA tournament history to record 35+ points and 5 blocks in the same game.
BRANDON CLARKE “BC” from Vancouver BC !!!!!!
MONSTER night at #MarchMadness
36 pts & 5 blocks. Only other players EVER to put up those numbers in the tourney: Shaquille O’Neal & David Robinson.
GO CANADA !!! 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 @ZagMBB @GonzagaBulldogs #Spokane #Canada #yvr pic.twitter.com/XF1B6kZfxh
— Kevin Smith (@Global_Smith) March 24, 2019
Clarke is projected to be a first-round NBA talent and will almost certainly get his name called in Brooklyn at the 2019 NBA draft.
Florida State Seminoles
Mfiondu Kabengele
Mfiondu Kabengele is a 21-year-old redshirt sophomore from Burlington, Ontario and is the nephew of Basketball Hall of Famer, Dikembe Mutombo. He remained in Canada during his high school years playing for Burlington’s Corpus Christi High School. He received offers from Wisconsin, Georgetown, Kansas State, Georgia and Boston College but ultimately decided to commit to Florida State.
After redshirting in his freshman year, Kabengele became one of the top reserves in the NCAA. He was a big contributor to FSU’s 2018 NCAA Tournament run to the Elite Eight. In his redshirt sophomore year, Kabengele was a force coming off the bench, playing in all 36 games while averaging a team-best 13.4 points and 1.5 blocks. He was named ACC’s Sixth Man of the Year and made the All-ACC Tournament first team.
🇨🇦 Canada’s Kabengele impresses as FSU slam Morant, Murray State. MORE: https://t.co/PpHPRVuKZI#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/iUzhF2fTzy
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 24, 2019
Kabengele and the Seminoles will try to upset the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Sweet Sixteen in hopes of making a second straight appearance in the Elite Eight.
Michigan Wolverines
Ignas Brazdeikis
Ignas Brazdeikis is a 20-year-old freshman from Oakville, Ontario. He represented Canada at the U16 FIBA Americas Championship and the U17 FIBA World Championship. Brazdeikis played high school basketball at Orangeville Prep and as a junior led them to the 2017 Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association championship and was the tournament MVP. He was ranked by 247sports.com as the No.66 player entering the 2018 recruiting class.
Brazdeikis received offers from Baylor, Cal, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee and USC but, ultimately sided with Michigan and officially became a Wolverine for the 2018/19 season. He started all 34 games for Michigan while averaging a team-high 15.1 points. He was voted Big Ten Freshman of the Year, earned All-Big Ten Second team and Big Ten All-Freshman honors. He was the first Michigan freshman to win the award since Trey Burke in 2012.
Brazdeikis and the Wolverines will take on a high-powered Texas Tech team in the Sweet 16.
Tennessee Volunteers
Kyle Alexander
Kyle Alexander is a 22-year-old senior from Milton, Ontario. Like Brazdeikis, he also played high school basketball at Orangeville Prep. He was teammates with current Denver Nugget, Jamal Murray, at Orangeville for two years. Originally a soccer and volleyball player, Alexander did not play basketball until his junior year.
After high school, Alexander would decide to attend Tennessee over New Mexico and would spend the next four years playing college basketball as a Vol. Alexander posted 57 blocks and 85 offensive rebounds, respectively the 4th and 11th highest single-season totals in Vols history, during his junior year campaign. Alexander has averaged a team-high 1.7 blocks and 2.5 offensive rebounds in his final season as a Vol. Over his four-year career with the program, he ranks second in school history for total blocks with 180 and sixth in offensive rebounds with 276. He has started 102 career games, the most among active Vols and is only 12th player all-time to start more than 100 games in a Tennessee jersey.
Alexander and the Vols will tip-off against a hungry Purdue team in the Sweet 16.
Canada’s Basketball Revolution
Canada’s 2018/19 basketball revolution has made its presence clear in this year’s NCAA tournament and may even make its way to basketball’s highest level. Many of these players will look to take the next step and fulfill their NBA dreams, with over ten Canadians predicted to have their names called in Brooklyn at the 2019 NBA draft.
If Stars Align, the 2019 @NBA Draft Could Feature Over 10 Canadian Selections! 🇨🇦
Director of Recruitment, Elias Sbiet (@Elias_NPH) talks about the “Golden Age of Canadian basketball”: https://t.co/nQQOAwZrxW #CanBall #NCAA #NBA pic.twitter.com/vJJUL0n80r
— NPH (@NorthPoleHoops) January 9, 2019
With all that being said, there still is no question that March Madness is dominated by players representing the red, white and blue. However, it cannot be ignored that this year’s big dance feels like it has a tad more red and white.
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