To-do list today:

1. Read Enjoy Basketball’s Out of Bounds newsletter

2. Watch eight Round of 32 March Madness games

3. …that’s it.

Today’s Lineup

🏀 Best NBA Alum from Schools Playing Today

So we can all agree that the best player in the NCAA Tournament is … Johni Flagg. Wait… Cooper Broome? Whoever you think is the best college player in the country right now, you can appreciate what we’ve got for you. Today, 16 teams compete to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16, so let’s give you the best current NBA player from each of the squads…

#1 Florida vs #8 UConn - 12:10PM ET

Though Al Horford has an NBA ring and TWO college titles to his name, we still think Bradley Beal is the best former Gator in the league. The Huskies have entered blue blood status with their back-to-back titles, but their current NBA players are all pretty young so Stephon Castle gets the nod. If this were a few years ago we know who we’d pick…

#1 Duke vs #9 Baylor - 2:40PM ET

Duke has some TOUGH competition, but Jayson Tatum is the correct answer for the Blue Devils. As for the Bears, Jeremy Sochan is the best current NBA player to suit up for the gold and green (also possible colors of Sochan’s hair at any given moment).

#3 Kentucky vs #6 Illinois - 5:15PM ET

Kentucky has the most stacked roster in the current NBA. Anthony Davis? KAT? Booker? All good options, but Shai Gilgeious-Alexander is the league's best Wildcat. The Fighting Illini are proud to boast Ayo Dosunmu, who has stayed in-state with the Bulls.

#2 Alabama vs #7 St. Mary’s - 6:10PM ET

Brandon Miller, the #2 pick in the 2023 draft, is averaging a scorching 21 points his sophomore season for the Hornets and gets the title for the Crimson Tide. As for St. Mary’s, technically Jock Landale may be the better player in 2025, but we refuse to disrespect the GOAT Patty Mills 🐐. Here’s him torching Santa Clara in 2009:

#4 Maryland vs #12 Colorado State - 7:10PM ET

The Crab Five are on a roll right now, but before the Terps had Derik Queen there was Kevin “Red Velvet” Huerter. Meanwhile, David Roddy is the lone CSU Ram in the NBA, so he gets an auto-win. Yay Roddy.

#3 Iowa State vs #6 Ole Miss - 7:45PM ET

Easy answer for the Cyclones: Tyrese Haliburton. Sorry but Ole Miss has none 😭 

#2 Michigan State vs #10 New Mexico - 8:40PM ET

A year or two ago, Michigan State’s award would still belong to Draymond Green. But with a DPOY and two all-star selections in the past three years, Jaren Jackson Jr is definitively the NBA’s best Spartan. New Mexico doesn’t have any present players, but their alumni boasts Danny Granger, Michael Cooper, and a man so iconic that they named a statline after him—Tony Snell. 

#4 Arizona vs #5 Oregon - 9:40PM ET

Here we get our first international player, Lauri Markkanen, who is the NBA’s best Arizona Wildcat. For Oregon, we could go one of two ways, but we wanted to see your thoughts on who is the NBA’s best Duck:

❤️ A Special Moment for Joe Ingles

Timberwolves are in no position to take nights off. Despite an 8-game win streak, they didn’t climb the standings. Then they lost to the undermanned Pacers and 14th-seeded Pelicans. So their rematch Friday against the Pels mattered. Coach Chris Finch made it matter another way.

Joe Ingles’ 8-year-old son, Jacob, is autistic and has never been able to attend a full NBA game because it’s too much of a sensory overload. Last Sunday, Jacob Ingles attended his first game—a massive breakthrough for him and the family—but his dad didn’t see any playing time. 

When learning of this, Coach Finch decided to start Ingles in the following game, despite the 37-year-old vet appearing in just a handful of minutes this season.

Though Ingles went 0-3 in his 6 minutes, that playing time is some of the most impactful of the year. Plus, the Wolves throttled the Pelicans 134-93. Was it a result of good karma? Players fired up for their teammates and coach? Maybe a bit of both. And that’s why we Enjoy Basketball.

Yesterday, the Illawarra Hawks defeated Melbourne United in the Finals of Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL). Anyone you know on those teams? Hint: he’s LeBron’s favorite Aussie.

Matthew Dellavedova won the Finals MVP despite being on the losing side, and in his press conference immediately after the game he took the time to say that Will “Davo” Hickey, the best player on the opposing side, was more deserving of the honor.

But Delly didn’t just talk the talk. He walked off the stage and handed the hardware to Hickey, the XX who dropped 21 points and 10 XX in the final game. What class from the XX-year-old basketball icon.

Signing Off

That’s all for today! Appreciate you taking the time to talk ball with us. Now go watch some Madness! 🫡 

-Conor Geelan