Canada Well Represented in NCAA Men's Tournament

Nailing down the exact number of Canadian-born players participating in the NCAA Men’s basketball championship isn’t as easy as it would seem. Should the list include players who have only appeared in a finite amount of games? Guys who have been red-shirted and do not dress for games? However you want to count them, it’s becoming clear that Canadians are becoming more visible than ever during March Madness.

The Canadian Press has counted 28 Canadian born athletes that will be involved in the upcoming 2015 tournament, including a handful contributing to top contending teams. Mostly notable is Trey Lyles, who is a freshman forward for the Kentucky Wildcats, who is the no.1 seed in the country and is looking to be the first team in 40 years to finish their season undefeated. Born in Saskatoon, Lyles is averaging 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds in 22.3 minutes per game.

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Other Canadians playing for high seeded schools include Dylan Ennis, a junior guard for no. 1 seed Villanova, who is averaging 9.8 points per game. Kenny Chery, a senior guard from Montreal, suits up for no. 3 seed Baylor and manages 11.4 points per game. Another no. 3 seed, Iowa State, sees 10.3 points per game from Mississauga born junior guard Naz Long.

Take a look at the complete list of Canadians hitting the hardwood this Thursday:

South Region

Gonzaga — Kevin Pangos (Holland Landing, Ont.), Kyle Wiltjer (Portland, Ore., holds dual citizenship), Dustin Triano, (Tsawwassen, B.C.)
San Diego State — Kevin Zabo (Gatineau, Que.)
Utah — Dallin Bachynski (Calgary)
Iowa State — Naz Long (Mississauga, Ont.)

East Region

Villanova — Dylan Ennis (Brampton, Ont.)
Lafayette — Jake Newman (Surrey, B.C.)
Providence — Junior Lomomba (Montreal)
Dayton — Dyshawn Pierre (Whitby, Ont.)
Oklahoma — Dinjiyl Walker (Thornhill, Ont.)
Albany — Richard Peters (Pickering, Ont.)
Virginia — Marial Shayok (Ottawa)

West Region

Oregon — Dillon Brooks (Mississauga, Ont.)
Harvard — Agunwa Okolie (Ajax, Ont.), Chris Egi (Markham, Ont.), Patrick Steeves (Montreal)
Baylor — Kenny Chery (Montreal)

Midwest Region

Buffalo — Jarryn Skeete (Brampton, Ont.), Rodell Wigginton (Dartmouth, N.S.)
Kentucky — Trey Lyles (Saskatoon)
New Mexico State — Daniel Mullings (Toronto), Tanveer Bhullar (Toronto), Matthew Taylor (Brampton, Ont.), Jalyn Pennie (Ajax, Ont.), Rashawn Browne (Toronto)
Valparaiso — Tevonn Walker (Montreal), Max Joseph (Montreal)

Have you printed out your March Madness bracket yet? Grab our printable bracket here!