With the arrival of March comes the hallmark event of collegiate basketball — the NCAA tournament and its trademark ‘March Madness’ — which is often the first close look many casual basketball fans get at incoming prospects who will soon be drafted into the NBA.
The Boston Celtics have 17 players on their roster, three of whom came to the team from overseas, one who wasn’t in college long enough to make the NCAA Tournament, and 13 who advanced to various stages of the 64-team, single-elimination contest.
Some were happy just to have made it to the big dance, while others made their mark with a deep run. But which current Celtics had a chance to win at all — and who ended up cutting down the net?
The Celtics Wire put together a comprehensive list of exactly that information to get you primed for the biggest event in basketball outside of the NBA, so without further ado, let’s get started.
Never played in the NCAAs
A number of Celtics players have never played in the NCAAs in the first place, so they couldn’t have made much of a mark in a college tournament they’d never have been able to qualify for in the first place.
Both Boston overseas big big men on the regular roster Daniel Theis and Vincent Poirier instead played professionally in Europe before coming to the U.S., the Celtics being the first pro team in North America either signed a regular-season deal with.
Center Enes Kanter was recruited by a number of U.S. schools and ultimately chose to sign with the University of Kentucky.
But, because of the NCAA’s stringent rules on amateurism, Kanter was forced to forgo a career at the college level due to his association with Fenerbahce, a Turkish professional team, when younger.
Never made the tourney
Romeo Langford was a very big deal on arriving in Indiana to play college ball in his hometown university. A top-ranked recruit named Indiana’s Mr. Basketball for 2018, big things were hoped for with the future Celtics’ arrival.
But a torn tendon in his thumb derailed his shooting and sole season in the collegiate ranks, instead leading his hallowed program to a mediocre finish, losing to Wichita State, 63–7 in the 2019 NIT quarterfinals.
Round of 64
Boston has a trio of players who made it to the big dance, but didn’t have the help — and luck — needed to advance.
That includes fourth-year shooting guard Jaylen Brown, whose 2016 Cal-Berkeley Golden Bears secured a bid to play Hawaii in the first round, but lost 77-66. Brown would have 4 points and 2 boards in his sole NCAA appearance.
There’s also Semi Ojeleye, who made it with SMU in 2016 after transferring there from Duke earlier in his collegiate career. Hs Mustangs played USC in the first round, but lost 66-65 in a squeaker. Semi put up 24 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
Marcus Smart made the tournament twice, in 2013 and 2014 with the Oklahoma State Cowboys. In the first shot, his team drew Oregon and lost 68-55 with the Texan logging 14 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals.
In 2014, the Cowboys drew Gonzaga, losing 85-77 and Smart scored 23 points, 13 boards, 7 assists and 6 steals in the loss.
Round of 32
Boston has had two of its players advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament, most recently two way fan favorite Tacko Fall, who did it in 2019 with UCF.
Ousted by Duke and Zion Williamson, the Senegalese center’s squad nearly took out the top pick of the 2019 NBA Draft and his team in the second round, the Knights falling 77-76 behind Fall’s 15 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks.
Speaking of Duke, Jayson Tatum made it this far in 2016 with the Blue Devils, an unusually short stint for the storied school. Duke would stumble against a sizzling South Carolina squad who won an 88-81 upset in which the St. Louis native recorded just 15 points in the loss.
Sweet Sixteen
This is the point of the tourney where things get interesting. And Boston has three players on its roster that have persevered to the third round, better known as the “Sweet Sixteen” in reference to the remaining number of teams still dancing.
One of the trio was LSU’s Tremont Waters in 2019. The Connecticut native and his Tigers got past Yale and a solid Maryland outfit only to fall lto Michigan State 80-63. Waters would score 23 points in the final game of his collegiate career.
Grant Williams made the tournament twice in hs years at Tennessee, in 2018 and 2019. He made it a round further in the latter season, the Vols eventually falling to now-teammate’s Carsen Edwards’ Purdue 99-94 (more on him shortly). Williams would score 21 points and 7 boards in the loss.
Robert Williams III also made the Sweet Sixteen in 2018, with Texas A&M. The hyper-athletic big man advanced to the third round only to be stopped by Michigan in a 99-72 loss in which the Louisiana native recorded 12 points, 6 boards and 3 blocks.
Elite Eight
Carsen Edwards, as we alluded earlier, made it a bit farther at teammate Grant Williams expense in 2019 with the Purdue Boilermakers. But only to the Elite Eight, one of two current Celtics to meet their match in this round.
The Boilermakers fell to eventual champion Virginia 80-75 despite an absurd 42 points from Edwards in his final and deepest NCAA run (his Purdue teams made the Sweet Sixteen in both of the prior two seasons).
The other player on Boston’s roster that made it this far is then-Pitt Panther Brad Wanamaker, in 2009. Though Wanamaker would make multi-game runs in 2008, 2010 and 2011, ’09 was by far Pitt’s best showing during his tenure, only stopped by Villanova 78-76.
Wanamaker, ironically from Philadelphia, would score just 5 points in the loss.
Final Four
The Celtics have precisely zero players who made it to the penultimate stage of the NCAA Tournament, though they nearly did have one.
Had Enes Kanter been allowed to play in the college ranks, it’s possible he would have been the Celtics player to have gotten this far in the Big Dance, as his 2011 Kentucky Wildcats made it to their Final Four without his help.
Then again, maybe they would have gone even further with him.
National championship game – but no win
The holy of holies for college basketball, the Celtics have two players on their roster who made it to the final boss of NCAA basketball, the tournament’s national championship game — but only one who won the tournament.
Starting with the one who made it, but came an errant shot away from stealing a chip from Duke is Gordon Hayward.
The Indiana native saw his last-second shot go amiss in 2010 as Butler — and now-Celtics head coach Brad Stevens — became the runners-up, losing 61-59 on Hayward’s miss.
At the end of the Butler product’s deepest NCAA run (he’d been to the first round the season prior), Hayward logged just 12 points and 8 rebounds.
Winning it all
When it comes to March Madness, there’s no bigger name than former UConn Husky Kemba Walker.
The Bronx native dragged an above-average Huskies from a near-certain NIT appearance all the way to a national title in 2011 by winning 11-straight single-elimination games with five in the Big East Conference Tournament and six more in the Big Dance.
Oddly enough, the most improbable run in modern NCAA Tourney began with a win over now-teammate Brad Wanamaker and Pitt in the Big East Tourney, and ended with a win over now-coach Brad Stevens and Butler.
While it’s true that the legendary run to the title was absolutely due to Walker putting the team on his back, the final game was more of a team effort.
Butler’s smothering defense held the UConn star to just 16 points on .263 shooting in the low-scoring affair. In the end, the Huskies prevailed, their opponents falling to Connecticut 53-41.
Putting it all together
While for many fans of NBA basketball, the NCAAs are simply where we start to become aware of the next generation of professional prospects, the incoming figures who replace our retiring idols, and restock the rosters with new hopes and dreams.
But for quite a few of us, the spring friendly is an electric opportunity to see what’s underneath the facade of many a player at the college level as they seek for their “one shining moment”.
Whether the picture-perfect ending of the Kemba Walkers of the NBA or those who were just lucky enough to get there in the first place, it’s an important part of not only basketball history, but how many enjoy the game.
Keep an eye out for the rising stars in this year’s NCAA tournament; at least one of them is likely coming to next year’s Celtics roster — if not several.
