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Kansas - athletic power forward Sasha Kaun is the only white man who will be featured in this game, and although the talented big man is a starter with a lot of talent, he is relegated to a "blue collar" role on this otherwise coal black team.
Florida A&M/Niagara - the "play in" game, which is supposed to feature the worst two teams in the tourney, provides an interesting conundrum. According to modern athletic myth, white people are supposed to suck at basketball. So I find it interesting that the two worst teams in the "Big Dance" haven't had a white athlete touch the floor for a single second all season. How is that possible?
Kentucky - Villanova - Villanova's team leader and only white player to see the floor this year is point guard
Mike Nardi. He is questionable to be available because of a severely sprained ankle and a calf strain, which means this game may be as black as an ace of spades. Kentucky's only white player is the seldom-used
Lukasz Obrzut, who frankly isn't very good.
Virginia Tech - Illinois - neither of these teams apparently think very highly of white athletes, because each just allowed one white scholarship athlete to see game time this season. The token for Virginia Tech is
Robert Krabbendam. For Illinois, it's
Trent Meachem.
Southern Illinois - possibly the best defensive team in the tournament. Undersized but tough power forward
Matt Shaw is the team's third leading scorer (11.4 ppg) and second leading rebounder. Super sophomore
Bryan Mullins starts at the point guard spot. He is a phenomenal defender, and he leads the team in steals as well as assists.
Tony Boyle comes off the bench to bang down low.
Holy Cross - center
Tim Clifford has a nice shot for a big man, and he ranks third on the team in scoring at almost 12 points per. He's also a decent shot blocker. Power forward
Alexander Vander Baan is a solid all-around player who leads the team in rebounds. Frequent starter
Kyle Cruze is a 3-point specialist who is very limited.
Pat Doherty rarely starts, but he plays a lot of minutes and is a good looking young point guard, but he's short. Freshman big man
Eric Meister is aggressive when he comes off the bench, and looks to have some potential.
Duke - probably the highest profile "white" team, the Blue Devils routinely start 3 white men. It's not uncommon for the Blue Devils to have five white cats on the hardwood at one time, but somehow they are still very good. Power/point forward
Josh McRoberts is probably the most versatile big man in the country, although he doesn't look to score as much as I think he's capable of, just averaging 12.8 point per contest. He's second on the team in scoring and assists, and is tied for second in steals while leading the team in rebounding and blocked shots. Freshman combo guard
Jon Scheyer is third on the team in scoring (12.3 per game). Point guard
Greg Paulus has struggled this year, but he is playing good basketball of late. He leads the team in assists (and turnovers, Agh!) and is a superb shooter (45% from 3-point range), scoring 11.4 points per. Freshman center
Brian Zoubek is raved about by the coaches but only gets spot duty off the bench. Athletic wing
Marty Pocius, who the coaches say is the quickest player on the team and their best perimeter defender, is in the same boat as Zoubek about playing time, although he's battled injuries this season.
Virginia Commonwealth - doesn't have a single white man on its roster. So of course most people are picking them for the upset.
Pittsburgh - talented, and VERY BIG, center
Aaron Gray is the best player and averages nearly a double-double. He leads Pitt in scoring (connecting on over 56% of his shots from the floor), rebounding, and blocked shots. Power forward
Levon Kendall is a quick-footed, elite defender. He is second on the team in blocks and rebounding and is a capable scorer, although he doesn't look to score often.
Wright State - a very short team with no true big man. Freshman guard
Vaughn Duggins is the second leading scorer on a balanced team, at 8.9 ppg. Small forward
Drew Burleson averages 8.8 ppg and leads the team in rebounding. Undersized power forward
Jordan Pleiman averages 7.4 ppg shooting 57% from the floor and is second on the team in rebounding.
Indiana - gone are the days when Indiana is a prominent national basketball power. Strangely enough, gone are the days when a lot of white guys played basketball for Indiana.
Lance Stemler is the lone white athlete to be a significant and routine contributor for the Hoosiers. His role is, of course, to do the dirty work. Center
Ben Allen and guard
Errek Suhr have both started 4 games this season, but both average less than 10 minutes per game, so they are more largely just tokens to a bygone era of greatness.
Gonzaga - my beloved Zags managed to survive the stupid mistakes that got supremely-talented
Josh Heytvelt suspended from the team and earned their way into the Big Dance. Combo guard
Derek Raivio leads the team in scoring at 18.2 ppg while shooting a phenomenal 96.1% from the charity stripe and 41% from the 3-point line. He's also tied for the team lead in steals and is second in assists. Freshman combo guard
Matt Bouldin features a superb all-around game. Savvy senior
Sean Mallon is a productive player who is capable of lighting up the scoreboard or rebound column despite not being a hig-flying athlete. Small/power forward
David Pendergraft is one of the toughest players in all of college basketball, and he possesses a sweet mid-range jumper as well as being a great defender. Former McDonald All-American and Kansas transfer
Micah Downs emerged late in the season as a big-time scorer and rebounder. He is a tremendous leaper as well as a superb 3-point shooter (43%), and at 6'8" poses serious match-up problems.
UCLA - shooting guard
Michael Roll is the only white player to get many minutes. He's the 3-point shooter off the bench.
Weber State - phenomenal athlete
David Patten (first mentioned a while back by sunshine) is the best player in the conference. The forward leads the well-balanced Weber State team in scoring at 14.4 ppg, as well as leading them in steals and blocks and is second in rebounding. Point guard
Juan Pablo Silveira is second on the team in scoring with 11.2 ppg and leads in assists. He shoots a stellar 46.2% from 3-point range. Guard/forward
Dan Henry is a tough defender and slasher, and he averages 7.7 ppg. Forward/center
Arturas Valeika leads the team in rebounding and adds 8.1 ppg, shooting 58.4% from the floor. Off the bench, forward
Tyler Billings brings instant offense, averaging 8.2 ppg. Back-up point guard
Brody Van Brocklin offers quality depth in the backcourt, and can really shoot if he ever decides to pull the trigger.
