Native American Athletes in the 2015 NCAA’s Division I Men’s March Madness Tournament

Four months ago, college basketball teams all across the country began their quest for a conference championship and then for one of the most sought after spots, a spot in the NCAA’s March Madness tournament. On selection Sunday, the NCAA finally announced the tournament field for the 68 men’s team that will compete for division 1 national championship that will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 4th & 6th.

For Indian Country, the representation keeps getting larger each year for participation in the March Madness tournament and this year will be no different. Below are a list of Native American players who will be participating in the March Madness tournament. We will update times each participants plays and what TV station they will play for in the second round once they become available. Tomorrow we will feature the Native American women who will be participating:

College Men

Bronson Koenig, (Ho Chunk Nation), is a 6-4 guard for the Wisconsin Badgers who earned a #1 seed in the West Region of the NCAA tourney. Probably the most notable Native American athlete in men’s college basketball as reported by contributing ndnsports.com writer Tyler Jones. Koenig was named the starting point guard for #6 ranked Wisconsin Badgers 13 games ago when then starting guard Travon Jackson went down with an injury. Until that point, Bronson was the number one guy off the bench giving the Badgers quality minutes off the bench and averaging about five points a game. Since being named the starting guard, Wisconsin is 12-1 and Bronson is averaging 11.9 points per game and 28 minutes per game. The Badgers will travel to Omaha, Nebraska on Friday to take on Coastal Carolina at CenturyLink Center. (Game time has been set for 8:20 PM Central Time on TBS Network)

Ron Baker, (Citizen Potawatomi Nation), is a 6-4 guard for the Wichita State Shockers who earned the #7 seed in the MidWest Region of the tournament. Ron is the leading scorer for the #12 ranked Shockers, averaging 15 points per game and averages over 32 minutes of playing time per game as well. This season Ron was named to the Missouri Valley Conference first team all-conference where the Shockers won the regular season conference title. The Shockers were upset in the semi-finals of the MVC tournament. Ron is also one of only 15 finalist for the Wooden Award as men’s top college basketball player of the year that will be announced at the men’s Final Four and he was recently nominated, by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, as one of 14 finalist for the 2015 Oscar Robertson Trophy. Earlier this week Ron was named to the USA Today’s 2^nd Team All-America list, making him the ninth player in WSU history to earn All-American status. The Shockers will be paired with 10th-seeded Indiana in Friday’s Second Round with the winner advancing to Sunday’s Third Round to face either No. 2 Kansas or No. 15 New Mexico State. Despite his accomplishments, Ron remains humble and proud as featured in this ARTICLE BY contributing ndnsports.com writer Charlie Perry. This game will also be at the CenturyLink Center downtown Omaha, Nebraska. (The Shockers will play Friday at 1:45 PM Central Time on CBS Network)

Derek Willis, (Inuit Peoples), is a 6-9 reserve forward for the #1 overall seed of the NCAA tournament, the Kentucky Wildcats. Derek has appeared in 16 games this season for the record-setting Kentucky Wildcats who are 34-0 on the season. On a team where minutes are difficult to accumulate, even by consensus All-Americans, Derek still has manged to average almost 5 minutes per game. Derek’s game high for points this season came against the Kansas Jayhawks, who are a #2 seed, where he scored 5 points in a few minutes of play. (Kentucky will play the winner of Manhattan/Hampton on Thursday at 9:45 PM on CBS Network.)

Best of luck to all of these athletes and their respective teams as they begin their quest for the national championship. The first round of the NCAA tournament will begin with the “First Four” on March 17th & 18th followed by the second rounds beginning on Thursday, March 19th. Tune into NCAA.COM for the most up-to-date information on the tournament.