As the NBA season winds to a close, college basketball does the same. We see future NBA stars making names for themselves in the NCAA's "March Madness," as they catch the attention of the Utah Jazz and the rest of the NBA.
In the current era, many college players who end up in the NBA only stick around campus for one or two seasons, as future #1 pick Cooper Flagg is expected to emulate this spring when he declares for the 2025 NBA Draft. The call to play at the highest level, for the most pay and prestige, is often too great, even in the NIL era, for those projected to be among the top NBA draft selections.
After some research, it appears the Utah Jazz do have quite a few guys who were in March Madness. Some were duds, and others were quite good in their games, if not spectacular. Let's look at a few of them and see how they did in the NCAA tournament:
Walker Kessler, Auburn (2022)
Now the starting center for the Jazz, Walker Kessler had a short NCAA tournament career but did get a 'shining moment' with a near-triple double (13 points, 10 rebounds, and nine blocked shots) in the first round against Jacksonville State in 2022.
Projected around 27th overall by some draft pundits, Kessler rose a bit after the tournament and ended up the 22nd pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves that year before the trade of Rudy Gobert landed Kessler with the Utah Jazz.
Kyle Filipowski, Duke (2023 & 2024)
A year ago, Filipowski was riding a wave with the rest of his Duke teammates, as they had some tournament magic go their way. Duke had dominant wins over Vermont and James Madison in the first two rounds, with Filipowski contributing a combined 17 points, 17 boards, eight assists, four steals, and four blocked shots.
On the tournament's second weekend, #4 Duke upset #1 Houston in the Sweet 16, with Filipowski having his best game (16 points, nine rebounds, two assists) in a 54-51 Duke victory.
An Elite Eight appearance was next, with an ACC rival on deck. NC State, an #11 seed, ended Duke's dreams of a Final Four appearance, winning 76-64 and continuing their magical run in the 2024 tourney.
While Kyle Filipowski didn't end up in the lottery like some projected, the Utah Jazz happily scooped him up with the 32nd overall pick, and he has since outperformed that selection in a season that has him in contention for NBA All-Rookie honors.
Svi Mykhailiuk - Kansas (2015-2018)
Svi Mykhailiuk has appeared in more NCAA tournament games than any other member of the Utah Jazz. He has more games than most of them COMBINED.
15 games in all, including a Round of 32 stint (2015), Elite Eight appearances (2016, 2017), and a Final Four in his send-off year in 2018. That's what happens when you play for a perennial March Madness favorite like the Kansas Jayhawks.
Four-year college players are rare these days, so Svi saw a lot of March Madness. His best tournament game was a 23-point scoring night against Austin Peay in 2016.
Not bad for a guy from Ukraine who wasn't a top recruit coming into college. He put up 14.6 points per game in his senior season in 2017-18 while hitting on 44% of his three-point attempts, and that was good enough to get him into the NBA. His solid play has kept him there for the last seven seasons.
Collin Sexton, Alabama (2018)
Sexton was an electric player at the college level, where the "Young Bull" would start to show signs of his NBA future. Despite playing only one season, he had 16 games of 20+ points and 11 games where he got to the line 10 times or more while averaging 19.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.6 assists.
He led Alabama to its first NCAA tournament since 2012 and helped lay the groundwork for the current Alabama resurgence (five straight March Madness appearances, 2021-present).
In his lone NCAA tournament, Sexton had a spectacular opening game. With 25 points and six assists, the Crimson Tide upset the eighth-seeded Virginia Tech Hokies, 86-83.
Johnny Juzang, UCLA (2021-2022)
Juzang might not be a star in the NBA, but he had a great run at UCLA. The Bruins were 49-18 during his time there, and he averaged 15.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists a game.
During his sophomore season, UCLA qualified for March Madness as a First Four team with a 17-9 mark after a late-season four-game losing streak put them on the tournament bubble.
But they made the most of that opportunity, beating Michigan State in overtime to make the Round of 64. Juzang had 23 points in that game and continued his stellar play as UCLA ran to the Final Four as an #11 seed, losing to eventual national runner-up Gonzaga in overtime, 93-90.
Juzang was awarded for his efforts (four 20-point games in six games in the tourney) with a first team berth on the 2021 NCAA All-Tournament Team and was named Third Team All-America a year later after the Bruins advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky (2022 & 2023)
While Oscar Tshiebwe doesn't play a lot for the Jazz yet, in college he was a BEAST at Kentucky, averaging a double-double and hauling in rebounds like a young Dennis Rodman.
A two-time All-American, Tshiebwe averaged 17.4 points, 15.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 1.6 blocked shots per game in his junior season, leading Kentucky to a 26-8 record.
His NCAA Tournament stay was brief but memorable in two seasons. He had 30 points, 16 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks in a first-round loss in 2022, and a combined 33 points, 43 rebounds, five steals, and two blocks in two games in the 2023 tourney.
One can't help wondering if Oscar Tshiebwe is the second coming of Paul Millsap. The former Jazzman averaged 18.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 1.9 blocks during his collegiate career at Louisiana Tech before being drafted by the Jazz and having an All-Star career in the NBA.
It's always fun to explore how the Utah Jazz players did before they arrived here, and these six have some fun March Madness stories to tell their kids about in the future.