Those familiar with the Utah high school basketball scene will hear some familiar names in the NCAA Tournament this season.
There are 17 players who competed at UHSAA schools in basketball on NCAA Tournament rosters, and many of them are key contributors for their respective college teams.
While guys like BYU’s Richie Saunders and Clemson’s Carter Welling won’t be able to compete after suffering season-ending injuries, here’s a look at the 10 Utah natives most likely to play big roles for their squads.
Jaxon Kohler, F, Michigan State
UHSAA school: American Fork High
First-round game:
- No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 14 North Dakota State
- Thursday, 2:05 p.m. MDT, TNT
Kohler, a senior forward, is a team captain and two-year starter for the Spartans.
The 6-foot-10 big man tied his career high with 23 points against Michigan on March 8 and has had 12 double-doubles this season, while averaging 12.7 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.
He is shooting 51% from the floor and 39.4% from 3-point range — his 52 made 3s are one off the team lead.
Kohler, who has played in the NCAA Tournament each of his four seasons at Michigan State, had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds in an Elite Eight matchup against Auburn last season.
He also earned All-Big Ten honorable mention honors this season from both the coaches and media.
There’s another Utah native in this one. Carson Smith, who prepped at Bountiful High, is a redshirt freshman guard for the Bison. He averages 3.1 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.
Mason Falslev, G, Utah State
UHSAA school: Sky View High
First-round game:
- No. 9 Utah State vs. No. 8 Villanova
- Friday, 2:10 p.m. MDT, TNT
Falslev has been a starter from Day 1 for the Aggies, and he stepped that up a notch this year by being named Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. He’s the third Utah State player to earn that honor.
As a junior, the 6-4 Falslev has averaged 16.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game, and has had only five games where he didn’t score in double figures.
Falslev is shooting 52% from the field and has made 46 3-pointers at a team-leading 41.1% clip.
This will be his third appearance in the NCAA Tournament with Utah State, and his fourth NCAA Tournament game on Friday — the Aggies have gone 1-2 in the tournament the past two seasons.
Falslev had 17 points and 10 rebounds in Utah State’s first-round loss to UCLA in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
Collin Chandler, G, Kentucky
UHSAA school: Farmington High
First-round game:
- No. 7 Kentucky vs. No. 10 Santa Clara
- Friday, 10:15 a.m. MDT, CBS
Chandler and the Wildcats are getting a prime spotlight in this contest, as the first game of the day Friday while also being broadcast on CBS.
After going through a learning process during his freshman season at Kentucky last year, the 6-5 guard has stepped into a starting role for the Wildcats while finding more ways to contribute.
Chandler has started 29 of Kentucky’s 34 games and is averaging 9.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
He scored a career-high 23 points against Vanderbilt at the end of last month, a taste of what the talented sophomore can bring to the offensive end.
Chandler also has made a team-high 70 3-pointers this season while shooting 42.7% from outside.
Chandler, who is making his second NCAA Tournament appearance, averaged 6.0 points, 1.7 steals and 1.0 rebounds per game in three NCAA contests last season.
Dallin Hall, G, Virginia
UHSAA school: Fremont High
First-round game:
- No. 3 Virginia vs. No. 14 Wright State
- Friday, 11:50 a.m. MDT, TBS
Hall has fit in quite well at Virginia — he transferred to the school after playing three seasons at BYU.
The 6-4 guard is one of four Cavaliers who have started every game.
He is averaging 5.9 points, 4.3 assists and 3.6 rebounds while leading Virginia in assists — he, along with teammate Chance Mallory, has surpassed 125 assists on the year already.
Hall leads the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.27 and is 20th nationally in that category.
Hall played in four NCAA Tournament games over the past two seasons at BYU and helped the Cougars go 2-2 in that stretch.
Drake Allen, G, Utah State
UHSAA school: Westlake High
First-round game:
- No. 9 Utah State vs. No. 8 Villanova
- Friday, 2:10 p.m. MDT, TNT
Allen’s basketball career has taken him all around the state. After prepping at Westlake, he spent two years at Snow College, then a season each at Southern Utah and Utah Valley before landing at Utah State.
The 6-5 guard has been an everyday starter as a grad student for the Aggies during the 2025-26 campaign, all while averaging 7.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and a team-high 4.7 assists per game.
Over Utah State’s past eight games, he has scored in double figures six times.
That helped Allen earn All-Mountain West honorable mention honors this season, and he made the All-Mountain West tournament team for his performance in helping the Aggies take home the conference tournament championship.
This will be Allen’s second NCAA Tournament appearance with the Aggies, after Utah State fell in the first round to UCLA last year.
Isaac Johnson, C, Hawaii
UHSAA school: American Fork High
First-round game:
- No. 13 Hawaii vs. No. 4 Arkansas
- Thursday, 2:45 p.m. MDT, TBS
Johnson is enjoying a breakout season in his fourth collegiate season, after one year at Oregon and the last two at Utah State.
The 7-foot senior center was named to the All-Big West Conference first team and is averaging career-highs in points (14.1 per game), rebounds (5.8), assists (1.1), blocks (1.1) and steals (0.6) while starting all 32 games for Hawaii.
One of Johnson’s best efforts of the season came in a seven-point loss to the Big 12’s Arizona State, when he had 23 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and an assist.
During the Rainbow Warriors’ past six games, he is averaging 17.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
This will be Johnson’s third NCAA Tournament appearance, after playing in the tournament with Utah State the past two seasons. Two years ago, he played 29 minutes and had 19 points, four blocks, three rebounds and an assist in a first-round win over TCU.
Jake Wahlin, F, Clemson
UHSAA school: Timpview High
First-round game:
- No. 8 Clemson vs. No. 9 Iowa
- Friday, 4:50 p.m. MDT, TNT
After two years at the University of Utah, Wahlin hit the transfer portal this past offseason and ended up at Clemson, where he has started a career-best 29 games this season.
The 6-10 junior forward has averaged a modest 5.4 points and 3.9 rebounds for Clemson while helping bolster the Tigers’ front line.
This year, Wahlin has six double-digit scoring games and a single-game high of 10 rebounds back near the start of the season.
This will be Wahlin’s first NCAA Tournament appearance.
Hunter Erickson, G, Hawaii
UHSAA school: Timpview High
First-round game:
- No. 13 Hawaii vs. No. 4 Arkansas
- Thursday, 2:45 p.m. MDT, TBS
Erickson has taken a windy road to his final destination of his college career.
The former T’Bird star began his college career at BYU, where he spent two years, and after a season at Salt Lake Community College, he ended up at the University of Utah for two more seasons.
Now, the 6-3 grad student guard is a steadying force for the Rainbow Warriors.
Erickson is averaging a team-high 31.6 minutes per game for Hawaii and has started all 32 games this season. He is also averaging career-best numbers across the board, with 8.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and a team-high 3.8 assists per game.
His 40 3-pointers this year lead the Rainbow Warriors.
This will be Erickson’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Though BYU made the NCAAs his freshman year in 2020-21, he didn’t play in the Cougars’ first-round loss.
Jordan Ross, G, Georgia
UHSAA school: Pleasant Grove High
First-round game:
- No. 8 Georgia vs. No. 9 Saint Louis
- Thursday, 7:45 p.m. MDT, CBS
Ross is in his first season at the SEC school after playing his first two collegiate years at Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference.
The 6-3 junior guard has started 25 of the 31 games he’s played for the Bulldogs, though he’s transitioned to coming off the bench in recent weeks.
Ross is averaging 6.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, and his 74 assists are third-best on the team.
One of his best games of the year came in Georgia’s SEC opener, when Ross scored 12 points and had three rebounds and three assists in an overtime win over Auburn.
Ross is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament — he played in the postseason event both of his seasons at Saint Mary’s. In a first-round win over Vanderbilt last year, Ross had 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Isaac Finlinson, F, Hawaii
UHSAA school: Dixie High
First-round game:
- No. 13 Hawaii vs. No. 4 Arkansas
- Thursday, 2:45 p.m. MDT, TBS
Like several other Utah natives on this list, Finlinson’s basketball career has taken him to many different places.
He redshirted a year at Utah Tech in the 2022-23 season, then spent two seasons starting at Snow College before ending up at Hawaii. Last season, Jam Media named him the Junior College Player of the Year.
After starting this season coming off the bench, the 6-8 junior forward was inserted into the starting lineup in late January and has thrived in that role while starting 15 games.
Finlinson is averaging 9.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.6 steals per game. The stretch four has also hit 32 3-pointers — one of five Rainbow Warriors with 30 or more 3s — and is second on the team in 3-point shooting at 38.1%.
This will be Finlinson’s first NCAA Tournament appearance.
Of note
Two other players that would have made this list, BYU senior guard Richie Saunders (Riverton High) and Clemson junior forward Carter Welling (Corner Canyon High), both suffered torn ACLs and will miss the NCAA Tournament.
Saunders averaged 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Despite missing BYU’s past nine games — and playing less than a minute in the game he was hurt — Saunders still leads the Cougars in 3-pointers made this year, with 64.
Welling averaged 10.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game this season in his first year at the Power Conference level. Welling was hurt in an ACC tournament matchup less than a week ago, just missing out on his first chance to play in the NCAA Tournament.
UHSAA alums in this year’s NCAA Tournament
Not counting Wasatch Academy, RSL Academy or Utah Prep athletes
BYU
- F Brody Kozlowski, Corner Canyon High
- G Jared McGregor, Westlake High
- G Richie Saunders, Riverton High
Clemson
- F Jake Wahlin, Timpview High
- F Carter Welling, Corner Canyon High
Georgia
- G Jordan Ross, Pleasant Grove High
Hawaii
- G Tanner Cuff, American Fork High
- G Hunter Erickson, Timpview High
- F Isaac Finlinson, Dixie High
- C Isaac Johnson, American Fork High
Kentucky
- G Collin Chandler, Farmington High
Michigan State
- F Jaxon Kohler, American Fork High
North Dakota State
- G Carson Smith, Bountiful High
Utah State
- G Drake Allen, Westlake High
- G Jordy Barnes, Olympus High
- G Mason Falslev, Sky View High
Virginia
- G Dallin Hall, Fremont High