Gone are the days when Canadian basketball fans tuned in to March Madness to catch a very brief glimpse of the few home grown talent playing in the tournament. This year, there were 27 Canucks playing in the opening round with all eyes on one in particular. With all the chatter surrounding Vaughan’s Andrew Wiggins about being the potential No. 1 NBA draft pick, most fans thought that his team the Kansas Jayhawks would’ve made a deep run in the tournament. Those hopes were dashed on Sunday when a feisty Stanford team led by Canadian duo Dwight Powell and Stefan Nastic sent Wiggins and the Jayhawks packing. With Wiggins out, and the field whittled down to sixteen teams, there are still eight Canadians left in the hunt and some are very worthy of your attention.
Nik Stauskas, Michigan
The 20-year-old Mississauga native is the go to guy for the Wolverines. Stauskas is averaging 17.5 points per game and is the 2014 Big Ten Player of the Year. He is one of the best three point shooters in the tournament, drilling four of them in Michigan’s 79-65 win over the Texas Longhorns on Saturday. You can expect to see his mom Ruta leading his fans in her Michigan maple leaf tee when the Wolverines play the Tennessee Volunteers on Friday.
Melvin Ejim, Iowa State
Chances are if you’re not a true basketball fan you probably haven’t heard of the Toronto native, but this is a player that you should be paying a lot of attention to. The 23-year-old Cyclones forward averages 19.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game and was named the Big 12 Player of the Year beating out Wiggins for the award. In February, he scored 48 points and chalked up 18 rebounds against TCU, a conference record for the most points scored in a game. Ejim and the Cyclones will take on the UConn Huskies on Friday night.
Dwight Powell, Stanford
If there’s one thing Powell can add to his resume that most college basketball players won’t be able to, it’s beating Andrew Wiggins when it mattered the most. The 22-year-old from Toronto poured in 15 points and seven rebounds in the Cardinal’s victory over the Jayhawks, in what was likely the end of Wiggins’ college career. Powell who averages 14.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game will be feeding off his confidence from the Kansas game after he was scoreless against New Mexico in the 2nd round. You can see him in action when Stanford squares off against Cinderella team Dayton on Thursday.
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