Who is Dancing? The NCAA DI MBB Postseason
There are 23 men from Missouri and Kansas high schools in the tournament. Only five upperclassmen play for the team where they started. Come see where they are now.
It is difficult to remember who is playing ball in college. But where? That is next to impossible. There are 23 local athletes in the men’s tournament. Sixteen of those are not playing at the school where they started. Of the other five, two are freshmen and haven’t yet had the opportunity to enter the transfer portal. That is one reason you need this newsletter. The subscription is free.
In the spirit of this great tournament, the local players are spread throughout all of the seeds. They play for No 1 seeds and No. 16 seeds, and nine differenct seeds in between. We even have players who need to win that First Four game to be a No. 16 seed. Yes, that is what this tournament is all about. Go out and play and see what happens. It’s exciting!
Listed below are the schools with local grads, along with information on each of the players.
University of Arizona
The Wildcats are a No. 2 seed in the South Region. They will play no. 15 seed Princeton on Thursday at 3:10 on TNT
The local connection is:
Courtney Ramey - Fifth Year - Webster Groves - Univ. of Arizona - Pac-12 Conference
Courtney played in 31 games, starting all 31. The Texas transfer shot 41% from beyond the arc, fifth high in the conference. He had 110 assits and an assist to turnover ratio of 2.18, third high in the Pac-12.
University of Arkansas
The Razorbacks are the No. 8 seed in the West Regional. They will play No. 9 seed Illinois on Thursday on TBS at 3:30.
The local connection is:
Trevon Brazile - Sophomore - Kickapoo - Univ. of Arkansas - Southeastern Conference
Trevon played in 9 games this year. The Missouri transfer averaged 11.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
Boise State University
Boise State is the No. 10 seed in the West Regional and will play No. 7 seed Northwestern on truTV at 6:35 on Thursday.
The local connect is:
Lukas Milner - Fifth Year - Olathe North - Boise State Univ. - Mountain West Conference
Lukas arrived at Boise State after tansferring from Johnson County Community College. He played in 32 games, starting 4. He averaged 3.1 and 2.8 rebounds per game while blocking 24 shots.
Creighton University
The Bluejays are the No. 6 seed in the South Region. They will play No. 11 seed North Carolina State at 3:00 on Friday on TNT.
The local connection is:
Ryan Kalkbrenner - Junior - Trinity Catholic MO - Creighton Univ. - Big East Conference
Ryan was named to the All-Big East Conference First Team. His 71.4% shooting from the field was No. 1 in the country. He was also tops in his conference in blocks per game.
Drake University
The Bulldogs are the No. 12 seed in the Midwest Regional. They will play No. 5 seed Miami on Friday at 6:25 on TBS.
The local connection is:
Eric Northweather - Sophomore - Blair Oaks - Drake University - Missouri Valley Conference
The Truman State transfer played in 23 games this year, scoring 52 points and grabbing 47 rebounds.
Duke University
The Blue Demons are the No. 5 seed in the East Region. They will play No. 12 seed Oral Roberts on Thursday at 6:10 on CBS
The local connection is:
Kale Catchings - Graduate Student - Liberty-Wentzville - Duke University - Atlantic Coast Conference
The transfer from Harvard played in 9 games this year, scoring 6 points and getting 8 rebounds.
Howard University
The Bison are the No. 16 seed in the West Regional. They will play No. 1 seed Kansas on Thursday at 1:00 on TBS.
The local connection is:
Kobe Dickson - Graduate Student - Holcomb - Howard University - Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Kobe is a graduate transfer from Cornell University. He played in 30 games, starting 6. He averaged 4.9 points per game while shooting 59% from the field.
Iona College
The Gaels are the No. 13 seed in the West Regional. They will play No. 4 Seed UConn on Friday at 3:30 on TBS
The local connection:
Anton Brookshire - Sophomore - Kickapoo - Iona College - Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
The transfer from Missouri played in 31 games this year. He averaged 4.2 points per game while hitting 38.5% of his three point attempts.
Iowa State University
The Cyclones are the No. 6 seed in the Midwest Region. They will play their first game on Friday at 2:10 on truTV. Their opponent will be the winner of the Mississippi State/Pittsburgh University game.
The local connection is:
Conrad Hawley - Sophomore - Raymore-Peculiar - Iowa State University - Big 12 Conference
Conrad is a transfer from Kansas, where he was on the Jayhawk football team. He played in 9 games, scoring 1 point and getting 7 rebounds.
University of Kansas
Kansas is the No. 1 seed in the West Region. They will open with Howard University on Thursday at 1:00 on TBS.
The local connection is:
Dajuan Harris - Junior RS - Rock Bridge - University of Kansas - Big 12 Conference
Dajuan is a CSC Academic All-District honoree. He was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team and the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He was No. 2 in the conference in assists, No. 3 in steals and No. 4 in minutes per game. His 3.40 assist to turnover ratio is the third best in the country.
Kansas State University
The Wildcats are the No. 3 seed in the East Region. They will play No. 14 seed Montana State on Friday at 8:40 on CBS.
The local connection is:
Nate Awbrey - Senior - Manhattan - Kansas State University - Big 12 Conference
Nate is a transfer from Manhattan Christian College. He played in 9 games, scoring 3 points and recording 1 assist.
University of Missouri
The Tigers are the No. 7 seed in the South Region. They will play Utah State on Thursday at 12:40 on TNT.
The local connections are:
Aiden Shaw - Freshman - Blue Valley - University of Missouri - Southeastern Conference
Aiden has played in 30 games, starting 2. He averaged 2.8 points per game while shooting 57% from the field. He has blocked 10 shots.
Isiaih Mosley - Senior - Rock Bridge - University of Missouri - Southeastern Conference
Isiaih transferred to Missouri from Missouri State. He has played in 14 games, starting 3, averaging 9.6 points per game.
Northern Kentucky University
The Norse are the No. 16 seed in the Midwest Region. They will play No. 1 seed Houston on Thursday at 8:20 on TNT.
The local connection is:
Xavier Rhodes - Senior RS - Rockhurst - Northern Kentucky Univ. - Horizon League
Xavier arrived at Northern Kentucky after transferring from Florida Southern University. He played in 33 games, starting every one of them. He averaged 7.7 points per game. He logged 121 assists and 65 steals. His steals per game was teh third highest in the conference whild his assist to turnover ratio was the second best in the Horizon League.
Purdue University
The Boilermakers are the No. 1 seed in the East Region. They will play on Friday on 5:50 on TNT. Their opponent will be the winner between Texas Southern and Fairleigh Dickinson.
The local connection is:
Chase Martin - Junior - Father Tolton - Purdue University - Big Ten Conference
Chase played in 4 games, scoring 2 points and grabbing 2 rebounds and 1 steal.
Southeast Missouri State University
The Redhawks will open against Texas A & M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday at 5:40 on truTV. The winner of that game will be the No. 16 seed to play No. 1 seed Alabama on Thursday at 1:45 on CBS.
The local connections are:
Josh Earley - Junior - Bishop Miege - Southeast Missouri State Univ. - Ohio Valley Conference
Josh arrived at SE Mo. State after transferring from the University of Tulsa. He played in 30 games this year, averaging 7.8 points per game while shooting 58.6% from the field. He also grabbed 5.2 rebounds per game, the second high on his team.
Tevin Gowins - Freshman - Hazelwood Central - Southeast Missouri State Univ. - Ohio Valley Conference
Tevin Gowins played in 17 games in his freshman year, scoring 22 points and getting 14 rebounds.
Dylan Branson - Sophomore - Mehlville - Southeast Missouri State Univ. - Ohio Valley Conference
Dylan appeared in 31 games, starting 26. He averaged 6.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest.
Phillip Russell - Sophomore - Vashon - Southeast Missouri State Univ. - Ohio Valley Conference
Phillip is a transfer from St. Louis University. This year he led the Redhawks by scoring 18.2 points per game. He had 164 assists and 49 steals. He was named to the All-Ohio Valley Conference First Team. He was second in the conference in points per game, second in assists per game, fourth in assist to turnover ratio, and fifth in free throw percentage.
Kobe Clark - Sophomore - Vashon - Southeast Missouri State Univ. - Ohio Valley Conference
Kobe is a transfer from Georgetown University. He played in 19 games, starting 15. He scored 6.6 points per game while pulling down 8.7 rebounds per contest.
Israel Barnes - Senior RS - Wichita Southeast - Southeast Missouri State Univ. - Ohio Valley Conference
Israel transferred from Newman University. He played in 27 games, starting 6, averaging 10.3 points per game.
Cameron Williams - Senior RS - Hazelwood Central - Southeast Missouri State Univ. - Ohio Valley Conference
Cameron has not appeared in a game this season.
University of Texas
The Longhorns are the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region. They will open against No 15 seed Colgate on Thursday at 6:25 on TBS.
The local connection is:
Christian Bishop - Senior - Lee’s Summit West - University of Texas - Big 12 Conference
Christian arrived at Texas after transferring from Creighton Univesity. He started one of the 34 games in which he played. He averaged 6.3 points per game while shooting 52.5% from the field.
Virginia Commonwealth University
VCU is the No. 12 seed in the West Region. They will play No. 5 seed Saint Mary’s on Friday at 1:00 on TBS.
The local connection is:
Nick Kern, Jr. - Sophomore - Vashon - Virginia Commonwealth Univ. - Atlantic 10 Conference
Nick played in all 34 games, starting 18. He averaged 5.3 points per game while shooting 61.4% from the floor.