Every Player from Ohio in the 2022 NCAA Tournament

By now most of you know that Ohio State will be a No. 7 seed and face the fighting Sister Jeans, AKA the Loyola Chicago Ramblers. If you’re a frequent reader of this site, you’re presumably cheering for the Buckeyes in that prospective matchup.

The Buckeyes won’t be the only team with Ohio ties playing in the NCAA Tournament, however.

If you’re an Ohio native and you’re looking for other teams to root for in the Big Dance, looking at the teams with other players from Ohio might be one place to start, so we’ve compiled a list of all the Ohioans playing in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament this year. 

If any team in the entire tournament has even a single player from Ohio, whether they’re a superstar or benchwarmer, they’ll be listed here. In total, 32 players from 11 schools in the tournament hail from the Buckeye State.

To get this out of the way, here are all the participants in the 68-team field that do NOT have a player on their roster from Ohio: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Auburn, Boise State, Bryant, Chattanooga, Colgate, Colorado State, Creighton, CSU Fullerton, Delaware, Duke, Georgia State, Gonzaga, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Jacksonville State, Kansas, Longwood University, LSU, Marquette, Memphis, Miami, Michigan State, Montana State, Murray State, New Mexico State, Norfolk State, North Carolina, Purdue, Providence, Rutgers, Saint Mary's, Saint Peter’s, San Diego State, San Francisco, Seton Hall, South Dakota State, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas Southern, Texas Tech, UAB, UConn, UCLA, USC, Villanova, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yale.

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Below, you’ll find the list of teams that do have players from Ohio, with each player listed along with their position, year of eligibility, hometown and stats (games played, points per game and rebounds per game this season). Schools are listed in order of how many native Ohioans they have on their roster.

Wright State (9)

• Tanner Holden: Guard, junior, Wheelersburg, 34 games played, 19.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg
• AJ Braun: Center, freshman, Dayton, 26 games played, 5.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg
• Keaton Norris: Guard, freshman, Hilliard, 34 games played, 3.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg
• James Manns: Forward, redshirt senior, Columbus, 11 games played, 3.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg
• Riley Voss: Forward, senior, Milford, 7 games played, 2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg
• Andy Neff: Forward, senior, Oakwood, 9 games played, 0.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg
• TJ Nagy: Guard, junior, Bellbrook, 9 games played, 0.0 ppg, 0.2 rpg
• Brandon Noel: Forward, redshirt freshman, Lucasville, has not played this season
• Johnny Riddle: Guard, freshman, Beavercreek, has not played this season

The Raiders have the most Ohio players on their roster of the entire 68-team field, though only three have consistently contributed throughout the season. After beating Northern Kentucky in the Horizon League championship, No. 16 seed Wright State will have the honor of playing Bryant in Dayton on Wednesday for the right to likely lose to Arizona. At least the Raiders are a good bet to have either the most or second-most fans in attendance of any of the eight schools in the First Four, given that they’ll be playing just minutes away from campus (Indiana does travel pretty well).  

Ohio State (7) 

• Malaki Branham: Guard, freshman, Columbus, 30 games played, 13.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg
• Kyle Young: Forward, graduate, Canton, 25 games played, 8.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg
• Justin Ahrens: Forward, senior, Versailles, 30 games played, 5.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg
• Meechie Johnson: Guard, freshman, Cleveland, 24 games played, 4.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg  
• Harrison Hookfin: forward, senior, Cincinnati, 6 games played, 0.3 ppg, 0.2 rpg
• Seth Towns: Forward, graduate, Columbus, has not played this season
• Kalen Etzler: Forward, freshman, Van Wert, has not played this season

Most of you already know the drill here. Branham is the Buckeyes’ most important player not named E.J. Liddell, and OSU will be in much better shape if Young can play in the NCAA Tournament after missing the last three games with a concussion. Four of Ohio State’s seven in-state players have been regulars in the rotation.

Akron (5)

• Enrique Freeman: Forward, sophomore, Cleveland, 33 games played, 13.2 ppg, 10.8 rpg
• Greg Tribble: Guard, sophomore, Cincinnati, 32 games played, 7.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg
• Garvin Clarke: Guard, freshman, Euclid, 33 games played, 3.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg
• Kobe Mitchell: Guard, freshman, Cadiz, has not played this season
• Nate Johnson: Guard, freshman, Liberty Township, has not played this season

Freeman has had a terrific season for the Zips, claiming the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year Award, yet somehow was only on the All-MAC second team despite averaging a double-double. If you recall back in November, Ohio State needed a last-second shot from Zed Key to beat the Zips in the season opener. A No. 13 seed, Akron will face No. 4 seed UCLA on Thursday in the opening round. 

Baylor (2)

• Dale Bonner: Guard, junior, Shaker Heights, 29 games played, 3.0 ppg, 1.1 rpg
• Zach Loveday: Forward, sophomore, Gallipolis, 11 games played, 1.0 ppg, 1.2 rpg

Neither Bonner or Loveday are stars for the defending national champions, but Bonner averages 16.6 minutes per contest for the Bears. He scored a season-high nine points in the Bears’ Big 12 tournament game against Oklahoma. 

Indiana (2)

• Logan Duncomb: Center, freshman, Cincinnati, 8 games played, 0.8 ppg, 0.6 rpg
• Michael Shipp: Guard, junior, Cincinnati, has not played this season

Breakdown: It’s not likely either Shipp or Duncomb will see any action in March Madness. But they’re both from Ohio and on an NCAA tournament roster, so they count! 

Davidson (2)

• Grant Huffman: Guard, sophmore, Aurora, 27 games played, 3.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg
• Desmond Watson: Guard/forward, freshman, Columbus, 33 games played, 2.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg

In his first collegiate season, Watson, a St. Francis DeSales product, is averaging 12.8 minutes per game for Davidson. He scored a career-high 13 points in Davidson’s win over Fordham on Friday. Meanwhile, Huffman averages 19.5 minutes per contest and had a season-high 12 points Saturday in a win against Saint Louis. A No. 10 seed, Davidson will take on No. 7 seed Michigan State on Friday. 

Kentucky (1)

• CJ Fredrick: Guard, redshirt junior, Cincinnati, has not played this season

Unfortunately for Fredrick, an Iowa transfer, he suffered a serious hamstring injury in November, causing him to miss the entire 2021-2022 season. 

Loyola (1)

• Braden Norris: Guard, redshirt junior, Hilliard, 31 games played, 10.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg

If you’ve already read Eleven Warriors’ Five Things to Know About Loyola, you’ll be familiar with the man Ohio State will be tasked with stopping in the first round. A 6-foot, 180-pound redshirt junior point guard from Hilliard, Norris has started 31 games for the Ramblers and is the team’s second-leading scorer with 10.3 points per contest. He’s the team’s most efficient 3-pointer shooter (with a minimum of 10 attempts), converting shots from beyond the arc at a 43 percent clip. Norris also leads Loyola in most minutes per game (32.7) and assists per game (3.9). 

Notre Dame (1)

• Dane Goodwin: Guard, senior, Upper Arlington, 27 games played, 14.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg

Goodwin has been instrumental in helping the Fighting Irish reach their first NCAA Tournament since the 2016-2017 season. Goodwin is the team’s second-leading scorer and its best 3-point shooter, converting shots beyond the arc at a 46 percent clip. He also leads the team in minutes per game (34.6) and is an 85 percent free throw shooter. Goodwin will be tasked with helping the Fighting Irish beat Rutgers in a play-in game on Dayton on Wednesday.

Richmond (1)

• Aidan Noyes: Forward, freshman, Cincinnati, has not played this season

Not much to report here, except it’s another Ohio player on an NCAA tournament roster. 

Vermont (1)

• Kam Gibson: Guard, senior, Cincinnati, 24 games played, 5.4 ppg, 1.7 rpg

Gibson, who averages 15.3 minutes per game for Vermont, has cracked double figures four times this season. He’s a 35 percent 3-point shooter and will try to help the No. 13 seed Catamounts upset No. 4 seed Arkansas on Thursday.