Charlotte, NC - The NCAA DI Men's Basketball Tournament is one of the most notable sporting events in the United States with 68 teams squaring off on the road to the Final Four. The NJCAA presence will be strongly felt during the two-and-a-half-week tournament as 77 former NJCAA student-athletes across 38 teams will be suiting up Indianapolis. With the first four games fast approaching, the NJCAA will highlight a few notable alumni who will be vying for a national title.
Chris Duarte was the name the 2019 NJCAA DI Men's Basketball Player of the Year following a stellar season with Northwest Florida State. He led the Raiders to the No. 1 seed in the national tournament and a quarterfinal finish in Hutchinson where they lost to eventual runner-up Ranger (TX). Duarte has since been a key player for Oregon, leading the Ducks in scoring this season, averaging 16.7 PPG while starting 24 games. Oregon earned a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament with a first-round matchup against VCU on Saturday, March 20.
Former Pima (AZ) Aztec Rashad Smith will secure a place in Grand Canyon history as the squad is making its first NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament appearance in school history. Before playing on this historic team, Smith led Pima to claim a district championship title and earned a national tournament appearance in 2019. Smith led Aztecs in total assists while averaging 18.8 points per game during his sophomore campaign. The Antelopes enter the tournament as a 15-seed and face second-seeded Iowa.
Virginia's Tomas Woldetensae, a Bologna, Italy native, earned NJCAA First Team All-America honors in 2019 after a standout sophomore season with Indian Hills (IA). Woldetensae 17.3 points per game and led the Warriors to an NJCAA DI Men's Basketball Championship tournament appearance. Following his time in Ottumwa, Woldetensae joined the Cavalier's defending national championship program where he started 22 games before the 2019-20 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Florida SouthWestern has seven former men's student-athletes competing in this year's NCAA tournament, including former NJCAA DI Men's Basketball Second Team All-America honoree and Alabama guard Keon Ellis. During his tenure as a Buccaneer, Ellis averaged 18.7 points per game and shoot 54 percent from the field. Florida SouthWestern earned a 59-5 over Ellis' two seasons as well as back-to-back berths to the NJCAA DI Men's Basketball Championship. This season Ellis has made an appearance in 29 games while starting four for the Crimson Tide. Alabama won the SEC regular-season and tournament championships and earned a No. 2 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
With the 2019-20 season cut short due to COVID-19, Vincennes (IN) still reigns as the defending national champion in NJCAA DI Men's Basketball. Three student-athletes from the Trailblazers' championship team will be playing for different schools in the NCAA upcoming tournament. Craig Porter Jr. is set to represent Wichita State in one of the first four games against Drake on Thursday. The winner of that competition will earn a No. 11 seed in the tournament. Drexel's Chula Mekkam will face off against No. 1 Illinois in the first round while Loyola-Chicago's Keith Clemons will face off against No. 9 Georgia Tech. Should the Dragons and the Ramblers each secure first-round wins, the former teammates would face off against each other during the second round on March 21 in Indianapolis.
The NJCAA's men's basketball championships will take place in April with the DI tournament beginning April 19 in Hutchinson, KS before the DII tournament kicks off on April 20 in Danville, IL.