The Wisconsin connections in the 2025 NCAA men's basketball tournament

[ASFN Admin]

We now have a bracket for the NCAA men's basketball tournament, giving us a chance to outline all the Wisconsinites (or otherwise Wisconsin-connected athletes and coaches) who will get their chance at the Big Dance.

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Starters in men's tournament​

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David Joplin (Brookfield Central), Marquette​

At 13.8 points per game and 5.5 rebounds, the senior is one of the leaders for a Marquette team that came into the season with extremely high hopes and can still make noise in the tournament. He was named third-team All-Conference in the Big East.

Kon Knueppel (Duke), Wisconsin Lutheran​

He may wind up being a lottery pick in the upcoming NBA draft, and he may become a national champion first. At the very least, he's the ACC tournament MVP, helping Duke overcome the loss of injured star Cooper Flagg. The Blue Devils are among the favorites to win the whole thing, and the freshman (named second-team All-Conference in the ACC) averages 14.4 points and 4.0 rebounds for the Blue Devils.

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Jaeden Zackery (Westosha Central), Clemson​

An all-defensive team selection in the ACC, Zackery transferred from Boston College to Clemson and has remained a reliable scorer, starting every game and bringing in 11.3 points per game, plus 3.2 assists and 2.1 steals. He closed the season with 133 career starts in four years of college.

Kobe Johnson (Nicolet), UCLA​

The all-defensive team choice in the Big Ten has been a strong contributor after transferring from USC, scoring 8.1 points with 1.7 steals, 5.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest. He's the brother of current Atlanta Hawks standout Jalen Johnson.

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Milan Momcilovic (Pewaukee), Iowa State​

Though he battled injury this year, he's a regular starter as a sophomore for the Cyclones, scoring 11.4 points per game with 3.2 rebounds and a 41% shooting mark from 3-point range. He's reached double figures in eight of the past nine contests.

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Tyrese Hunter (Racine St. Catherine's), Memphis​

He'll presumably be making an NCAA tournament with his third program, having already made the trip with Iowa State and Texas, but he also sustained an injury during the American Athletic tournament and was in a walking boot and on crutches. Hunter scored 13.7 points with 3.6 assists this year and 1.5 steals, making him a first-team all-conference choice in the American Athletic.

[IMG alt="Wisconsin guard Max Klesmit (11) out rebounds Oregon forward Brandon Angel (21) during the first half of their game Saturday, February 22, 2025 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/milwaukee-journal-sentinel/88d5c98e04a3e01c10f26e8face8fe58[/IMG]

Max Klesmit (Neenah), Wisconsin​

Battling injury late in the year, the senior guard Klesmit averages 9.3 points and 2.7 assists per game for the Badgers. His return coincided with Wisconsin's re-awakening and reaching the Big Ten tournament final.

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Seth Trimble (Menomonee Falls), North Carolina​

The junior has scored a career-best 11.6 points per game this year for the Tar Heels, plus 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. He's the brother of another former Tar Heel from Menomonee Falls, J.P. Tokoto.

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Tre White (Milwaukee Washington), Illinois​

He briefly was a player at Milwaukee Washington High School before going to powerhouse Prolific Prep in California. He has previous college stops at USC and Louisville, and this year he's up to 10.7 points per game and 5.4 rebounds in 30 contests.

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Jacob Ognacevic (Sheboygan Lutheran), Lipscomb​

After missing all of last year with injury, he returned and became the Atlantic Sun Conference player of the year, helping his squad win the league tournament. The 6-8 senior averaged 20.1 points per game this year for the Nashville-based school with 8.1 rebounds.

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Desmond Polk (New Berlin West), SIU-Edwardsville​

The senior has started all 33 games this season and scored 6.2 points per game for a program under former Marquette player Brian Barone; the Ohio Valley champion will be making its first NCAA tournament appearance.

Brian Taylor (UW-Milwaukee), SIU-Edwardsville​

Formerly part of the UWM program in 2022-23, Taylor has started every game this year for SIU-Edwardsville, making its first NCAA trip. He averages 12.0 points per game and 4.1 rebounds.

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Chucky Hepburn (University of Wisconsin), Louisville​

Wisconsin fans hated to see him go when he transferred to Louisville, and with good reason. The first-team all-conference pick and defensive player of the year in the ACC has been electric, leading the Cardinals to a massive turnaround. He's scored 16.2 points per game with 5.8 assists and 2.5 steals.

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Dexter Akanno (Marquette University), Utah State​

He played his freshman season in 2020-21 with the Golden Eagles, followed by three years at Oregon State and now one more season with the Aggies, where he's the team's third-leading scorer at 8.3 points per game.

Donovan Newby (UW-Milwaukee), UNC-Wilmington​

He spent two seasons with the Panthers and now leads the Seahawks in points (14.6 per game) and assists (3.5), en route to a Colonial Athletic championship. He was named the league tournament's most outstanding player.

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Other Wisconsin-tied players in the men's basketball tournament​

• Andrew Alia (Kenosha St. Joseph), Drake. He has seen action in seven games this year for the Missouri Valley champion.
• Grant Asman (Kimberly), Lipscomb. The 6-10 center comes off the bench and scores 3.4 points per game.
• Ross Candelino (University of Wisconsin), Lipscomb. The former UW redshirt comes off the bench.
• Jake Ciardo (Germantown), Marquette. The junior has appeared in five games this season.
• Jordan Gainey (Franklin), Tennessee. Gainey, the son of Tennessee assistant coach Justin Gainey, who had previously coached at Marquette, spent his freshman year of high school at Franklin before relocating. He averages 11 points per game off the bench for Tennessee after being first-team all-Big South Conference two season ago with USC Upstate. He's averaged 15.5 points over the past six games, including 24 in the SEC championship-game loss to Florida.
• Isaac Gard (Oregon), Wisconsin. Son of head coach Greg Gard has played in 11 games for the Badgers this season.
• Carter Gilmore (Arrowhead), Wisconsin. Transformed into a vital cog off the bench, often relied upon defensively even though he only scores 3.9 points per game.
• Amari Jedkins (Racine Case), Montana. After a year with UW-Green Bay, he's scoring 1.4 points per game for the Grizzlies.
• Jalen Keago (Oshkosh North), Alabama State. In his first year with the SWAC champion, Keago has seen action in 19 games.
• Aidan Konop (Sussex Hamilton), Wisconsin. Freshman walk-on has gotten time in four games this year.
• Jeremy Lorenz (Brillion), Wofford. He appeared in all 34 games this year and averages 7.9 points per game for the Southern Conference champion.
• Kamari McGee (Racine St. Catherine's), Wisconsin. Took a step forward this year as a key sub, scoring 6.9 points per game and shooting 49% from 3-point range in limited attempts, plus 2.0 assists per contest.
• AJ Storr (University of Wisconsin), Kansas. The UW leading scorer last year made the high-profile decision to transfer to Kansas, but he's had a rough year, averaging fewer than 6 points per game and playing roughly 15 minutes per contest.

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Coaches with Wisconsin ties​

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Brian Barone, SIU-Edwardsville​

He played two years at Marquette and just coached his program into its first NCAA tournament. He also served as an assistant for the UW-Green Bay men's program.

Greg Gard, Wisconsin​

The native of Cobb and Iowa-Grant alumnus has been head coach of the Badgers since taking over for Bo Ryan early in the 2015-16 season; this will be his seventh NCAA Tournament in nine seasons.

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Dennis Gates, Missouri​

The former assistant coach at Marquette led the Tigers to the NCAA second round two years ago and now back into the showcase this year.

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Porter Moser, Oklahoma​

Moser spent a year as an assistant at UW-Milwaukee in 1995-96, long before he became one of the hottest up-and-coming names on the coaching carousel, which included a memorable tournament run at Loyola in 2018. He has Okalhoma in the dance for the first time since 2021.

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Nate Oats, Alabama​

The native of Watertown is head coach at Alabama, which had the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament two years ago and threatened for a No. 1 seed most of this season.

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T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State​

The graduate of St. Thomas More in Milwaukee led the Cyclones past Wisconsin three years ago in his first year as the program’s head coach, and now to a fourth straight dance with a team that can make a Final Four run. Otzelberger's coaching career included a start at Catholic Central High School in Burlington.

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Bruce Pearl, Auburn​

The long-tenured SEC coach was at UW-Milwaukee for four seasons, overseeing the team’s dramatic run to the 2005 Sweet 16.

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Kelvin Sampson, Houston​

He was an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks from 2008-11. He's now leading Houston, a team regularly competing for NCAA championships.

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Shaka Smart, Marquette​

It's now four straight NCAA tournaments in four years under Smart. The Oregon native led Marquette to its first tournament win in over a decade two years ago, then to the Sweet 16 last year.

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Buzz Williams, Texas A&M​

The head coach at Marquette from 2008-14 won a Big East regular-season title and led the Golden Eagles to three straight Sweet 16s (and one Elite Eight) before leaving for Virginia Tech in 2014.

[IMG alt="Wisconsin associate head coach Joe Krabbenhoft is shown during the first half of their game against Purdue Thursday, March 2, 2023 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.

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Assistant coaches with Wisconsin ties​

• JR Blount, Iowa State. The assistant coach was a two-time state champion playing for Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay.
• Justin Gainey, Tennessee. The assistant coach spent two stints at Marquette, including as an associate head coach from 2020-21, and he's now on staff for one of the best teams in the tournament.
• Diante Garrett, Iowa State. The Milwaukee Vincent alumnus is in his first season as an assistant with the Cyclones. He played for the program from 2007-11.
• Devin Johnson, Texas A&M. He spent two seasons on staff with Buzz Williams at Marquette, then followed Williams to Virginia Tech and eventually Texas A&M.
• Steve Merfeld, Creighton. The Bloomington native and graduate of UW-La Crosse has been with the Bluejays program for more than a decade. He was head coach for Hampton in 2001 when his 15th-seeded squad knocked off No. 2 Iowa State.
• Nearly everyone at Wisconsin. Former Badgers players Joe Krabbenhoft, Sharif Chambliss, Kirk Penney and Greg Stiemsma populate the Badgers coaching staff, and Lance Randall, a longtime name in Wisconsin coaching who had stops at Beloit College, Oshkosh West High School and Stevens Point, is in his first year on staff.

Who'd we miss? Email [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin connections in 2025 NCAA men's basketball tournament

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