Last year’s NCAA Tournament sported a local flavor, when Greenfield’s Makai Mason and his Yale men’s basketball team made headlines with an upset victory over Baylor. Mason was one of the tourney darlings, and the Bulldogs, playing in the Big Dance for the first time since 1962, gave Duke all it could handle before bowing out in the Round of 32.
While there won’t be any Franklin County natives in this year’s field, several players with Recorder-area ties are expected to be involved in the event, which kicks off Tuesday night with First Four games in Dayton, Ohio.
A trio of Northfield-Mount Hermon alumni helped their teams to the NCAA Tournament this winter, and several others on the current Hoggers roster have committed to schools that punched their ticket when the brackets were released Sunday night.
Princeton senior Pete Miller played 16 minutes in his team’s 71-59 victory over Yale in Sunday’s Ivy League championship game. The Tigers earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, hoping to replicate Yale’s Cinderella run from a season ago.
Miller, an NMH alum and former captain who graduated in 2013, is averaging 2.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game this season. The Tigers earned the No. 12 seed in the West Region, and will open their tournament against No. 5 Notre Dame on Thursday in Buffalo.
Spike Albrecht, who made his bones playing for Michigan before transferring to Purdue for his final season of eligibility, will take part in another NCAA Tournament as a member of the Boilermakers. Albrecht, who played a postgraduate year at NMH, has averaged 12.7 minutes per game this season, scoring 1.8 points and pulling down 1.6 rebounds. Purdue received a No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region and drew No. 13 Vermont on Thursday in Milwaukee.
Northwestern’s Aaron Falzon, another former NMH standout, had hoped to be helping the Wildcats to their first NCAA Tournament appearance this season. But the sophomore forward suffered a season-ending knee injury in December and was forced to watch from the sidelines as Northwestern navigated the Big Ten waters en route to claiming an NCAA berth. Falzon, who was expected to pursue a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA to retain three full seasons of eligibility, and his Wildcats were given the No. 8 seed in the West Region and will tangle with No. 9 Vanderbilt on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
Three current Hoggers, which fell in the National Prep Championship game to Brewster Academy last week, have committed to play for NCAA Tournament qualifiers. Guards Andrew Platek (North Carolina), Jerome Desrosiers (Princeton) and Jordan Sechan (Bucknell) will all be able to watch their future programs compete on the big stage this week.