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A number of Utah Jazz players went to schools that are in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and will be watching closely now that March Madness is underway. This includes players from quite a few of the top seeds this year.
On Wednesday night, before the tournament started, I talked to the players about the chances that their former programs have in their bid for a national title. At the time of this writing, Thursday’s games had wrapped up, but Friday’s games had not.
Jordan Clarkson enthusiastically said that Missouri was going to “get the chip” this year. Missouri was upset on Thursday night by Drake.
Micah Potter played for Wisconsin, a No. 3 seed this year, and said that he feels like they could win it all.
“They’re seasoned, they’ve got a lot of really good shooters, and they’re healthy,” Potter said. “They’ve got a National Player of the Year candidate (John Tonje), they’ve got a lot of guys that play a role, they’re big, they’re physical, and they have had a great year. If they can stay hot going into the tournament, I think they’ll make a huge run.”
Wisconsin beat Montana and will face BYU in the second round. Potter said that BYU would be a tough matchup for the Badgers, but that he feels good about beating any opponent.
Oscar Tshiebwe, who played for John Calipari at Kentucky, said that he is rooting for Arkansas, where Calipari now coaches, but ultimately, his loyalty lies with Kentucky on the other side of the bracket.
The Jazz also have a couple of players who played for No. 1 teams.
“Very, very, very excited about Auburn basketball right now,” Walker Kessler said. “It’s gonna be good for sure. For sure! There’s a couple good teams Florida, obviously. They’re another great SEC team and have been playing really good basketball. So it’ll be interesting.”
Auburn easily handled Alabama State in the opening round and will play Creighton in the second round.
When I asked Kyle Filipowski, who played for No. 1 seed Duke, if he had any words of encouragement for the Blue Devils, a smile spread across his face.
“They know what to do,” he said. “I don’t think they need any words of encouragement, encouragement from me. I think they’re pretty solid.”
Duke advanced on Friday with a 44-point win over Mount St. Mary’s.
New with the Jazz
Quote of the week
“Some people are like, ‘Are you even a human?’ I say, ‘I’m a human.’ They say? ‘Do you ever get tired?’ Some people are asking me, if there is anything I take. ‘Are you on steroids?’ I say ‘No.’ It’s funny. Some people say ‘No, you gotta get tested. We don’t believe you.‘” — Jazz two-way player Oscar Tshiebwe
From the archives
Extra points
- Jazz beat Wizards in battle of NBA’s worst teams (Deseret News)
- Walker Kessler working to expand his game to the 3-point line (Deseret News)
- Playing for the Rockets taught KJ Martin a lot about appreciating opportunity (Deseret News)
Around the league
- Boston Celtics sold for $6.1 billion to new owner.
- NBA execs polled on No. 1 prospect Cooper Flagg’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Stephen Curry to be re-evaluated on Monday after suffering pelvic contusion.
Up next
- March 23 | 1:30 p.m. MDT | Utah Jazz vs. Cleveland Cavaliers | KJZZ
- March 25 | 7 p.m. MDT | Utah Jazz vs. Memphis Grizzlies | KJZZ
- March 27 | 7 p.m. MDT | Utah Jazz vs. Houston Rockets | KJZZ
- March 28 | 7 p.m. MDT | Utah Jazz @ Denver Nuggets | KJZZ