Another March nears it end, as does another year of US College hoops. What does that mean? Madness is just a few days away. Here we take a look at the Kiwi’s to look out for in this year’s NCAA Men’s and Women’s basketball tournaments.
Aniwania Tait-Jones (University of California – San Diego)
28-4, Big West Champions
Fresh off the New Zealand first Big West Player of the Year award, Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones put together a near triple-double performance in the Big West Championship Final.
His 14 point, 8 rebound and 8 assist night was enough to take the Tritons comfortably past UC-Irvine, 75-61, to secure the Conference Championship and an automatic bid into this year’s tournament.
Despite winning the Big West – they’ll face a tough first round opponent in the University of Michigan. It’s worth noting that although 2025-26 Michigan commit Oscar Goodman is currently training with the team, he won’t be involved in this match-up.
Charlisse Leger-Walker (UCLA)
30-2, Big Ten Champions
Although red-shirting this year to recover from the ACL injury she sustained in January of 2024, Charlisse Leger-Walker’s UCLA Bruins will head to the tournament on the back of a dominant season in the Big Ten.
The season culminating in a Big Ten Championship game victory over rivals USC, sees the Bruins snatch a automatic bid into this year tournament.
UCLA’s Big Ten victory gives Charlisse another Conference title to add to the Pac-12 title she won with Washington State in 2023, the same year where she was named Pac-12 Player of the Tournament.
Mason Whittaker (American University)
22-12, Patriot League Champions
The former Canterbury Rams forward and his American University Eagles teammates have dominated Navy in their Patriot League Championship final to send themselves through to the tournament.
Should the 22-win, 12-loss Eagles defeat Mount St. Marys in the First Four match up out East, they will face a tough first round when they match up with consensus number one draft pick Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils.
Lilly Parke (Fairleigh Dickinson)
29-3, Northeastern Conference champions
In her second year at Farleigh Dickinson the ever reliable Lilly Parke and her Knights teammates are headed to the tournament for the first time in their school’s history.
Taking down Stonehill in the final of the NEC tournament, Parke and the rest of the fifteenth seeded FDU crew will face the tough task of taking down the two-seeded Texas Christian University Horned Frogs who boast USA 3×3 Olympic star, Hailey van Lith.
Waiata Jennings (Baylor)
27-7, runners-up in the Big 12
Waiata Jennings and the Baylor Bears are headed to the tournament following a stellar season in the Big 12, where they fell just short of conference championship to the aforementioned van Lith and TCU.
Whilst it’ll be Jennings’ first tournament, Baylor have been to the last 21 women’s tournaments, tied 6th longest tournament appearances streak with Virginia and Duke.
The fourth seeded Bears will take on Grand Canyon in the opening round of the tournament, who boast an impressive 32-2 record.
Ben Gold (Marquette)
23-10, lost in Big East Tournament semi-final
Ben Gold’s Marquette Golden Eagles head to the tournament as the 7th seed in the South region.
Gold’s 7.3 points, 4.2 rebounds has seen him be a steady contributor to the Golden Eagles season to date, something he’ll look to continue to do for Coach Shaka Smart when they take on New Mexico in the first round.
Tafara Gapare (Maryland)
25 – 8, lost in Big Ten Tournament semi-final
The Scots College alum will be headed to the tournament with his Maryland Terrapins teammates as a fourth seed in the West.
Off the back of what was a heartbreaking loss to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament semi-final, Tafare and the Terrapins will look to get their tournament off to a hot start when they take on Grand Canyon University.
Lilly Taulelei (Iowa State University)
22-11, lost in quarter-final of Big 12 tournament
Iowa State finds itself locked into what will be a fiercesome first four battle with Princeton University.
Lilly Taulelei and the Cyclones will need to beat the Princeton Tigers in order to secure the 11th seed, if successful they’ll take on the Michigan Wolverines in the first round.
Invitational Tournament Selections
Whilst not apart of the NCAA Division 1 tournament, the invitational tournaments for both men and women will see a few more Kiwi’s take the floor.
Whilst not currently playing, Akiva McBirney-Griffin’s UC Irvine Anteaters have been invited to the tournament, carrying the flag for Aotearoa in his limited involvement being the only Kiwi to feature on in the men’s invitational.
The Portland University trio of Emme Shearer, Melika Samia and Flo Dallow will be at the tournament, as will the University of Hawai’i duo of Ritorya Tamilo and Rebecca Moors. Another pair of teammates from Gonzaga will also be in attendance, with Tayla Dalton and Lauren Whittaker also be looking for invitational tournament glory.
