Men's NCAA Tournament: Who from Washington will be playing in 'March Madness'
Twelve of the 68 teams in the national tournament have Washington high school products on their rosters
March Madness is back.
The annual men’s NCAA Tournament begins this week — and there are 12 teams in the 68-team bracket with former Washington high school basketball standouts on the roster.
VarsityWA breaks down storylines and players to watch, and lists the state’s 18 former high school players on tournament rosters this March:
FIVE STORYLINES
Of the 18 former Washington high school players listed on tournament rosters, 12 enter the bracket as conference tournament champions. Cal Baptist (WAC), Gonzaga (WCC), Hawaii (Big West), Idaho (Big Sky), St. John’s (Big East) and Troy (Sun Belt) all earned automatic bids. Gonzaga, St. John’s and Troy also won regular-season conference titles.
Gonzaga’s roster features the most former Washington high school players in this season’s tournament with four — including Anacortes’ Davis Fogle (All-WCC Freshman Team), North Kitsap’s Cade Orness, Seattle Prep’s Braeden Smith (team leader in assists) and Ellensburg’s Steele Venters.
Kelso’s Tommy Lloyd, the Big 12 coach of the year, has led Arizona to regular-season and conference tournament championships this winter — and now the No. 1 seed in the West Region. The Wildcats have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of Lloyd’s five seasons leading the program, with three Sweet 16 appearances in the first four years.
Idaho, led by third-year coach Alex Pribble, returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1990 after winning the Big Sky Tournament championship game last week against Montana. Pribble is set to make his first trip to the NCAA Tournament at the Division I level as a head coach — but in four seasons at Saint Martin’s in Lacey, Pribble led the program to the Division II tournament in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2019.
Troy’s program features three Campbells — assistant coach Scott Campbell and sons Cobi Campbell and Cooper Campbell. Scott Campbell formerly coached in Washington at Sedro-Woolley, Sehome, Puyallup and Issaquah-based Elite Prep, while Cobi Campbell played high school basketball at Puyallup and Elite Prep and Cooper Campbell started his high school career at Elite Prep. Cobi (9.0 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals per game) and Cooper (12.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.6 steals) are both starting guards for Troy this season.
FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH
F Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA, sr.
31 games (30 starts), 30.2 minutes, 17.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists
Former all-state selection at Kamiakin played first two seasons at Oregon State before joining UCLA, and has been Bruins’ leading scorer each of the past two years. Left Big Ten quarterfinals win over Michigan State with a knee injury, but is expected to return to the lineup to make second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
G Cooper Campbell, Troy, soph.
33 games (32 starts), 33.8 minutes, 12.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.6 steals
Has appeared in all 77 games for Troy his first two college seasons, and leads the Sun Belt regular-season and tournament champions in steals this winter.
G Dylan Darling, St. John’s, R-jr.
32 games (12 starts), 21.0 minutes, 7.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals
Former Central Valley star and Class 4A state player of the year — who also played two college seasons at WSU and another at Idaho State — leads the Big East regular-season and tournament champions in steals.
G Jaylen Petty, Texas Tech, fr.
31 games (20 starts), 30.0 minutes, 9.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists
Last year’s state player of the year in Washington after leading Rainier Beach to the Class 3A state championship has started each of the past 20 games for Texas Tech as a true freshman.
F Jaylin Stewart, UConn, jr.
28 games (12 starts), 17.7 minutes, 4.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists
Two-time Class 3A champion at Garfield — and state player of the year as a senior — won a national championship with UConn as a freshman in 2024. Now a junior, has not played since Feb. 21 (knee), but reportedly could potentially return for a third career NCAA Tournament appearance.
ON THE ROSTER
Positions and years reflect what is listed on current rosters, while most recent Washington high school attended, prep schools and previous colleges are listed in parentheses.
BYU (No. 6 seed)
F Tyler Mrus, jr. (Seattle Prep, Alaska Fairbanks, Idaho)
Cal Baptist (No. 13 seed)
G Jalen Dollar, soph. (Roosevelt)
Gonzaga (No. 3 seed)
G Davis Fogle, fr. (Anacortes, AZ Compass Prep)
G Cade Orness, R-fr. (North Kitsap)
G Braeden Smith, R-jr. (Seattle Prep, Colgate)
G Steele Venters, gr. (Ellensburg, EWU)
Hawaii (No. 13 seed)
G Hunter Carter, fr. (Annie Wright, Accelerated Prep (Colo.), Rosemary Anderson Prep (Ore.))
Idaho (No. 15 seed)
G Trevon Blassingame, R-jr. (Auburn, Fairleigh Dickinson)
G Talon Jenkins, fr. (Meridian)
F Tyler Linhardt, sr. (King’s, UW)
Iowa State (No. 2 seed)
G Mason Williams, jr. (O’Dea, EWU)
St. John’s (No. 5 seed)
G Dylan Darling, R-jr. (Central Valley, WSU, Idaho State)
TCU (No. 9 seed)
G Tanner Toolson, jr. (Union, BYU, Utah Valley)
Texas Tech (No. 5 seed)
G Jaylen Petty, fr. (Rainier Beach)
Troy (No. 13 seed)
G Cobi Campbell, R-jr. (Puyallup, Elite Prep, North Idaho College)
G Cooper Campbell, soph. (Elite Prep, PHHoenix Prep (Ariz.))
UConn (No. 2 seed)
F Jaylin Stewart, jr. (Garfield)
UCLA (No. 7 seed)
F Tyler Bilodeau, sr. (Kamiakin, Oregon State)
