Native American Athletes in the 2016 NCAA Division I Men’s March Madness Tournament

Updated 3/14/2016

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 Houston, Texas on April 2nd & 4th.

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 junior guard for the University of Wisconsin Badgers who finished (20-12) this season in the Big 10 conference. They received the No. 7 seed in the East bracket and will face No. 10 seed Pittsburgh. Bronson has played in the Final Four in his first two seasons with the Badgers and if he and the Badgers can make a few upsets happen he and teammate Nigel Hayes could make Wisconsin history.

Will Decorah (Ho-Chunk Nation) is a 6-4 junior guard and also a member of the University of Wisconsin Badgers basketball team. Will joined the team at the beginning of the season after previously serving as the teams manager the past two season. He was placed on scholarship by then head coach Bo Ryan.

Derek Willis (Arapaho Tribe) is a 6-9 junior forward for the University of Kentucky Wildcats who punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament by winning the SEC tournament for the second consecutive year. Willis worked himself into a starting role for the Wildcats midway through the season where he became a staple outside shooter for the team. He sustained a sprain ankle a few weeks ago prior to heading into the conference tournament but has since come back to make big shots for the Wildcats, including the shot that put UK ahead in the SEC championship game that they won versus Texas A & M.

Eric Green (Hulapai Tribe) is a 6-4 senior guard/forward for the Holy Cross Crusaders. The Crusaders punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament by winning the Patriot League Championship tournament. Eric scored 13 points in that game for Holy Cross in what would be his season high. Eric has spent most of his season rehabbing an injury. The Crusaders are one of the 4 teams that will have a play-in game for the No. 16 seed, they will play Southern in the West Bracket, where the winner of the play-in game will face No. 1 seed Oregon.

Ron Baker (Citizen Potawatomi) is a 6-4 senior guard for the Wichita State University Shockers. The Shockers received one of the play-in game bids where they will face Vanderbilt University for a chance at No. 11 seed. Should they win that game, in the South bracket, they would then go on to face the No. 6 seed the University of Arizona. The Shockers were the regular season conference champions out of the Missouri Valley conference, they were upset in the MVC tournament.