Best Canadian Players at March Madness
It’s been another banner year for Canadians playing basketball south of the border. No fewer than 135 proud Canucks were on board at the start of the 2023-24 NCAA Division I men’s basketball season, including 30 true freshmen – and reigning Wooden Award winner Zach Edey, back for another year with the Purdue Boilermakers. Sadly, not all of those 135 Canadians will be playing in this year’s Men’s Basketball tournament. Edey will definitely be there, but who else joins our annual Best Canadian Players at March Madness list here at Bodog Sportsbook?
1. Zach Edey, Purdue
Edey was the No. 1 player on last year’s list, and not only is he still the best Canadian at the Big Dance – he’s the best college player, full stop. Edey is a virtual lock to retain his Wooden Award after posting even better numbers for Purdue this year than he did in 2022-23:
Points: 24.4 per game
Rebounds: 11.7
Assists: 2.1
Blocks: 2.2
Field goal percentage: 61.9
Edey even attempted the first 3-pointers of his collegiate career, shooting 1-of-2 from behind the arc. That’s the one obvious thing the Toronto native will need to work on if he wants to carve out a living in the NBA; despite dominating at the NCAA level, Edey could easily slip into the second round of this year’s draft.
In the meantime, Edey will try to improve his stock with a strong March Madness performance. He didn’t get very far last year; Purdue became just the second No. 1 seed in Tournament history to get bounced from the opening round. The Boilermakers will once again be a top seed this year, representing the Midwest Region versus the winner of the First Four game between No. 16 Montana State and No. 16 Grambling State.
Edey and his teammates won’t be taking anything for granted. NCAA odds are pending at Bodog for their first-round matchup on Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, but Purdue has opened as +600 third favourites to cut down the nets at the National Championship game in Glendale.
2. Emanuel Miller, Texas Christian
It was a close call among the next three players, but we’re giving the No. 2 spot to Miller, the multi-tool forward from TCU who was third on last year’s list. Miller has found his range with the Horned Frogs, sinking 39.7% of his trey attempts while taking advantage of his extra year of eligibility – thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Not that Miller is known as a dead-eye shooter. The latest prospect from the Scarborough mill (via Unionville) didn’t show much range when he started playing Division I ball at Texas A&M. Miller is still shooting a relatively low volume of 3-pointers at 2.3 per game, but that’s up another tick from 1.6 last year, a promising development for the potential second-round NBA pick.
Add that increased volume to Miller’s classic lunchpail defensive work, and he was able to crack the 2024 All-Big 12 Second Team for the Horned Frogs. Now we get to enjoy another round of Miller Time at the Big Dance. They may have lost to Houston in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, but TCU was still good enough to earn an at-large bid as the No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region.
The Horned Frogs will face No. 8 Utah State on Friday at Barclays Center; the Frogs (+10000) and Aggies (+15000) are both in the middle of the pack on Bodog’s March Madness odds board, and TCU is the 3-point favourite for this opening-round contest despite being the higher-numbered seed.
3. Tyrese Samuel, Florida
Another Canadian enjoying his second year as a senior, Samuel has reached a higher level in the SEC after playing the full four seasons at Seton Hall. The 6-foot-10 power forward from Montreal is arguably the best player on a Gators team that made it all the way to the SEC Tournament final before losing to Auburn.
Samuel came through the Basketball Without Borders camp before playing AAU ball alongside Miller (and Toronto’s own AJ Lawson, now with the Dallas Mavericks) for UPlay Canada, in their lone Nike 17U campaign. He was also a key contributor for Team Canada at the U18 and U19 levels before signing up with the Pirates, where he came off the bench until his fourth year.
Now that he’s in Florida, Samuel is enjoying career highs in both minutes (27.1 per game) and scoring (13.9 per game), which should ease the concern of scouts who saw Samuel as a defensive specialist. However, Samuel is still very much limited as a shooter, and somehow got worse this year at the free-throw line (54.0%) on 5.1 attempts per game – another career high.
How much of Samuel will we get to see at the Big Dance? Florida was handed the No. 7 seed in the South Region, putting them in position to face the winner of the First Four battle between No. 10 Boise State and No. 10 Colorado. This was a very interesting move by the Selection Committee; the Broncos are justifiably upset to be forced into the play-in, while Colorado was one of the last four teams to make the Tournament.
Florida might prefer to face the Buffaloes (–2.5 versus BSU) in the first round this Friday in Indianapolis. But in the meantime, Samuel and the Gators are a compelling dark horse pick at +6000 to win the Tournament.
4. Emanuel Sharp, Houston
Sharp may be fourth on our list, but he could easily be No. 2 behind Edey – and it was Sharp’s Houston squad that defeated Miller’s Horned Frogs (+11.5) 60-45 at the Big 12 Tournament. That was a rough afternoon for Sharp at 4-of-12 from the field, although Miller (1-for-10) had it worse during this defensive battle.
Of the five players on this list, Sharp is also the only one who’s included because he’s a dual citizen. The 6-foot-3 guard was born in Tel Aviv and lives in Tampa Bay; Sharp’s mother, Justine Ellison Sharp, is in the Hall of Fame for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues after becoming their first-ever Howard Mackie Award winner as the top female athlete in the CIAU (now U Sports).
Sharp’s father happens to be Florida native Derrick Sharp, who played for 15 years with Maccabi Tel Aviv and led them to back-to-back EuroLeague championships in 2004 and 2005. After returning to the Sunshine State, Derrick coached Emanuel in high school – along with Emanuel’s brother Gabriel, who just wrapped up his senior year at Kalamazoo College.
Given that pedigree, it’s no wonder Emanuel made our list. And while Houston wasn’t able to win the Big 12 title this year, they’re still the No. 1 seed in the South Region; the Cougars have a first-round date Friday at the FedExForum in Memphis with No. 16 Longwood, the champions of the Big South. Houston opened as +500 second favourites for the national title behind the defending champs from UConn (+400), while the Lancers are tied for last place at +90000 as we go to press, and very much behind the 8-ball as 23.5-point underdogs to the Cougars.
5. Ryan Nembhard, Gonzaga
The third of our returning Canadians from last year’s list, Nembhard transferred from Creighton to Gonzaga and made first-team All-WCC after a capable junior campaign for the Bulldogs. The competition level wasn’t as high as it was in the Big East, and his dip to 32.3% in 3-point accuracy is a bit concerning, but Nembhard made up for it with a career-high 7.5 assists per game.
The move to Spokane mirrors the path Ryan’s older brother Andrew took to Gonzaga in 2020 after two seasons with the Florida Gators. Ryan is playing a larger role, though; he started all 32 of his games at point guard for the Bulldogs, while Andrew was the WCC Sixth Man of the Year before starting every game as a senior.
Will Ryan keep following Andrew’s lead and play one more year at Gonzaga before joining the NBA? At just 6-foot tall, three inches shorter than his older brother, Ryan is a fringe prospect at best for this year’s draft. But he’s a quality playmaker who showed promise with the Bluejays as a shooter. He might want to take that extra year of NCAA eligibility and keep learning at the feet of Mark Few before turning pro.
It also might take another crack (or two) for Nembhard to lead Gonzaga to the Promised Land. They’re only a No. 5 seed this year at the Tournament; the Bulldogs will meet No. 12 McNeese in the Midwest Region on Thursday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, in what should be a very competitive matchup. The ‘Zags find themselves as rare +6000 outsiders to finally win the title, while the Cowboys are available at +30000 after winning the Southland Conference. Don’t be surprised if McNeese pulls off the upset here as 6-point underdogs – and keep checking in with Bodog Sportsbook for the latest March Madness odds and analysis.