March Madness: 10 most intriguing European players to watch / News - Basketnews.com

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It is that time of the year when College Basketball becomes really cool for a while: March Madness has arrived.

To celebrate the occasion, BasketNews brought a somewhat different perspective to the event by focusing on the European players who are going to take place in the upcoming tournament, where the preliminary FIRST FOUR stage already started on Tuesday.

The roster includes very interesting names from the Old Continent where you can get "like father like son" vibes, from Augustas Marciulionis (Saint Mary's Gaels) or Martynas Arlauskas (Gonzaga Bulldogs) as well as Filip Rebraca (Iowa Hawkeyes).

However, to be concise as possible, we added the 10 Top names who have the biggest shares of impact on their respective teams. Now, if your brackets are ready to be torn down, even from Day 1, let's start.

Paolo Banchero | F | Duke | Italy

Let's start with Paolo Banchero. You probably heard the name of this super talented guy, even if you have never had an interest in college basketball. Being a US-born and raised player, he also got his Italian passport two years ago as it is the country where he has family roots from his father's side.

Certainly, Banchero was one of the three players that everybody talked about for being a Top 3 pick in the next NBA Draft alongside Jabari Smith and Chet Holmgren, around the College Basketball circles.

If you are wondering about some thoughts about whether he should be the No. 1 pick or not, you can check this video article.

But the question is, could he succeed where others like Marvin Bagley, Wendell Carter, Gary Trent Jr., Jason Tatum, Frank Jackson, Luke Kennard, or even Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, and Cam Reddish trio failed to do so: carrying the Blue Devils onto the Final Four, one last time for the legend Coach K, in his very last March Madness.

In his last two big games, Banchero realized it is two different things to be a big name for the draft prospects and win tournaments in College Basketball.

Mike Krzyzewski's last home game in front of a joyful crowd was ruined as the archrivals North Carolina grabbed a famous win, and Virginia Tech surprisingly won the ACC tournament by beating them in the final.

Despite scoring 20+ points in both games, Banchero's plus-minus index was down to minus 11 and minus 14, respectively, as he could not be the only factor that would decide the fate of Duke for the upcoming tournament.

Nevertheless, it will be a lot of fun to watch him in the NCAA tournament to track whether there would be any changes in his Top 3 draft position. This is March Madness, and many perspectives can get transformed while the Top seeds get down one by one.

Matthias Tass | C/PF | Estonia | Saint Mary's Gaels

West Coast Conference is better known as the conference where Gonzaga Bulldogs play in the regular season. Still, one of their toughest challenges, Saint Mary's Gaels, is quite an entertaining program with many international pieces in it.

They are used to making occasional surprises against the national title favorites Bulldogs, and this year, they were among the three teams that get to win against the Bulldogs with Duke and Alabama.

The main pillar of their frontcourt is built by Matthias Tass and Dan Fotu, brother of Isaac Fotu, a New Zealand NT player who was in Venezia last season.

The Estonian senior center made a bigger contribution throughout this season. He improved almost all his figures: 12.6 points, 6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists with 55% FG (from 10.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists with 50% FG last season).

One of his highlight games was against No. 1 Gonzaga, where the Gaels limited the Bulldogs to 57 points and gave them their first loss time in 2 months. Tass helped his team with 13 points over Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme.

Giving some Domantas Sabonis vibes by his looks, Tass also has playmaking skills from post-up plays, dishing 2.1 assists per game.

He also creates good shots for his teammates with good handoff screen ability.

The Estonian looksa little bit of a soft finisher around the rim but not unbalanced, though. Despite being right-handed, he can use the right or the left jump hook with both hands.

Amin Adamu | G | Great Britain | Montana State

Jubrile Belo | C/PF | Great Britain | Montana State

Montana State has a very deep British connection with Amin Adamu, Jubrile Belo, Great Isobar as well as their assistant coach, Chris Haslam.

They did a great job together to win the regular season at the Big Sky Conference and come over Northern Colorado in the conference tournament to carry the program to their first NCAA tournament since 1996.

Among them, Amin Adamu and Jubrile Belo carry special importance for their 2nd-year coach, Danny Sprinkle.

Jubrile Belo is their main post-up guy as the team plays nearly half of all the possessions of this type on him.

He averages 12.8 points and 6.7 rebounds this season and is a quality finisher with 60% FG. Moreover, he is a very solid rim protector. In his third year with the program, he rose up blocks per game to 1.7 and only failed to make a rejection in only 7 games out of 34.

Adamu is also in his sophomore year and giving solid shooting support from the perimeter with 40% 3 points and 50% FG. Next to Xavier Bishop, the team's lead guard, he provides consistent double-digit scoring with 11.6 points per game with 1.7 assists.

Luka Brajkovic | C| Austria | Davidson Wildcats

Many people know Davidson as the college where Steph Curry flourished his college career and carried the school to Elite Eight in 2008, but it is also an interesting program full of fascinating international talent.

Under their long-time coach Bob McKillop- who has been at the helm since 1989- they won the regular-season title in the A-10 conference while losing Richmond Spiders in the conference final. This is their third NCAA tournament in the last 7 years.

Among the lead scorers of Davidson, South Korean Hyunjung Lee already stirred a nation-wide interest, but there are other great components, too, like Luka Brajkovic.

Being 2.08 m tall and a little bit over 110 kg, the Austrian center might not seem particularly athletic at first sight. Despite his limited vertical jump, his pivot footwork is solid and helps him to compensate for the lack of explosiveness and relative immobility. He had five 20+ points and 5+ rebounds games, and seven double-doubles.

With 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, Brajkovic found himself a place in the top 10 in the A-10 conference regarding these categories among centers. But at those times, he does not muscle his way near the rim with post-ups, he makes very effective screens to get the fellow shooters outside and find them with good court vision.

Brajkovic's 2.6 assists per game are already impressive, but he is also working on his 3-point shot as well. When the opponents underestimate him at the top of the arc, he knows how to punish them with 39% 3 FG on 2.6 attempts per game.

Gabe Stefanini | G | Italy | San Francisco Dons

Remember the 2019 NCAA final where Davide Moretti brought Texas Tech to the cusp of winning perhaps one of the most surprising March Madness finals? Well, the boy from Bologna and future Milano member failed to do that day, but there is another Bolognese guard who is getting ready to play in the NCAA Tournament: Gabe Stefanini.

San Francisco Dons could not win a game in March Madness since 1979, and Gabe Stefanini and his teammates will try to break that jinx against Murray State in the first round.

The 1.91 m guard transferred from Ivy League college Columbia to San Francisco and became a complementary piece to the offensive scheme led by Jamboree Bouyea and Khalil Shabazz, which contributed to the main offense with 9.9 points and 2 assists per game.

Although he is not the primary pick and roll initiator for the Dons, he can pop up as a secondary or tertiary option, who can send those catch and shoot, side-step, or step back threes that reminds the style of Danilo Gallinari.

Being an alert defender who made 1.1 steals per game this season, Stefanini does not try to finish the drives with layups too much and instead uses his mid-range game after picking the ball from handoff passes.

Although his 3-point shooting accuracy is not bad, with 37% for the season, it needs more consistency. But if he can repeat those showcase games against Pepperdine (6/13 3 FG) or Nevada (5/12 3 FG), he can trouble the opponent.

Azuolas Tubelis | C | Lithuania | Arizona Wildcats

It has been some time that we could see other Lithuanian twins after the Lavrinovics, but here are the Tubelis brothers at the NCAA Tournament: Azuolas and Tauttvilas.

Arizona Wildcats is another international-talent friendly program as the current Italian National Team member, and Virtus Bologna guard Nico Mannion was amongst their leaders back in 2019 and 2020.

After 4 years' hiatus, The Wildcats regained the honors of the Pac-12 regular season and the tournament championships titles and came to the NCAA Tournament as a No.1 seed. They seem to have a realistic chance to reach at least the Final 8 or even the Final Four.

If we recall how UCLA surprised everybody to make it to the National Semi-Final game in the previous year, it is understandable that Pac-12 teams are taken much more seriously this time. In fact, Arizona only got 3 losses through the entire season.

Among the twins, 2.10 center Azuolas is the one who has more meaningful minutes and is actually among the leaders of the team alongside Canadian draft prospect Bennedict Mathurin and the center from Mali, Oumar Ballo.

As a strong finisher at the rim with some spectacular dunks, Azuolas Tubelis is a uni-dimensional player.

The 19-year old freshman can use both his post-up skills and face-up skills to drive to the rim or shot the ball from mid-range.

Tubelis averaged 14.4 points with 55% FG accuracy, and he already had 4 double-doubles this season. But perhaps his takeover during the semi-final game in the conference tournament was among the best highlights.

Against Colorado, he was the man of the match with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 steals as well. He occasionally prepares nice surprise dishes for his teammates and proved himself as a respectable passer with 2.4 assists per game.

Kerr Kriisa | G | Estonia | Arizona

Estonians did a great job this season in NCAA as they have another interesting name on the list from Arizona: Kerr Kriisa.

As a fascinating figure, Kriisa did not miss the opportunity to make the most of his 'namesake' Steve Kerr's Arizona history and got his jersey number 25. All in all, Valmo Kriisa, a former Estonian national team player, got inspired by Steve Kerr before naming his son.

The issues with his name and shirt number are not the only fascinating things about him.

Kriisa is the highest 3-point volume shooter for Arizona Wildcats as he shoots 7.2 threes per game and hits 2.5 beyond the arc (35%).

But his assists are even more adorable.

His good court vision makes a great combination with his quick thinking and dexterity to come up with a 4.5 assist per game. His 10 assists game against Colorado or 6/9 shooting from 3-point range against Washington were just among the two examples of many. Those lob dishes could surely help the headbands become cool again.

The Estonian guard got a huge scare after having a sprained ankle during the quarter-final game in the conference tournament, but luckily, he is cleared to play for March Madness.

Uros Plavsic | C | Serbia | Tennessee

Tennessee Volunteers also promises a lot of fun with all those international college players that we might see in Europe sometime in the future.

But the not-so-fun defensive rigidity against their opponents rendered Tennessee into a very daunting team, who did not lose more than a single game since the beginning of February.

Coach Rick Barnes took the Volunteers to the NCAA tournament in the last three successive seasons since 2017-2018, but they are coming to the NCAA tournament with heartbreak from last year's edition.

In the first round of March Madness last year, they lost as a No.5 seed team against No. 12 seed Oregon State Serbian center Uros Plavsic remembers that feeling of disappointment all too well.

Back then, they had Yves Pons, Jaden Springer, and Keon Johnson, who all made their way to NBA franchises and their G-League associates. Besides,Finnish forward Oliver Nkamouah will not join his teammates for the upcoming tournament due to injury.

The Redshirted Junior can get some inspiration from fellow Serbian Balsa Koprivica, who made it to the Sweet 16 with the Florida State and decided to develop his game under the watchful eyes of Zeljko Obradovic at Partizan for 2021-22.

Plavsic is 2.13-meter tall and stands as a big threat at the dunker spot in the offensive setup, despite not being an audacious dunker.

Instead, he makes himself quite useful to open up space for his teammates who drive to the rim by his gravity and sealing moves to render the rim protector ineffective.

The former Arizona State player also has a specialized role in the team regarding the rebounds, perhaps more strikingly, the offensive boards with the putbacks.

He is rarely a double-digit scorer while the Uruguayan Santiago Vescovi and Kennedy Chandler and left behind John Fulkerson in the rotation. But yet, he dominated against LSU, which were No. 13 at that time in the AP standings with 12 points and 7 rebounds.

His physical presence around the rim is also important for the defensive end of the court as they are led by Tennessee's signature "Doberman Defense" of Rick Barnes era. The program has the 3rd best Adjusted Defensive Efficiency in the Pomeroy standings.

Alexis Yetna | F | France | Seton Hall

Many talented players from France choose to get into a college scholarship to improve their chances in basketball and get an education. The history is full of big names like Joakim Noah (Florida), Ronny Turiaf (Gonzaga), TJ Parker (Northwestern), Amath M'Baye (Wyoming and Oklahoma), as the list goes on and on.

From a more recent past, Joel Ayayi was a finalist last season with Gonzaga, as did Killian Tillie back in 2017. Yves Pons (Tennessee 2017-2021) and Nicholas Evtimov (Colgate 2020-2021) also come to mind.

Another good prospect from France, Alexis Yetna, will try to make his case on that list as Seton Hall turns back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018.

The French forward, who came to Seton Hall as a graduate transfer from South Florida, is not the team's primary option but has an important role in dominating the boards. He averages 8.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, and 8 double-doubles this season.

Besides his natural instincts and agility to get those contested rebounds, he also has some variability in the offense. Despite not being considered a huge outside threat with sub 30% 3 point accuracy, he rolls in the outer zones of the perimeter and makes catches and drives move to get the offensive engines of his team working.

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