The Cleveland Cavaliers have their eyes currently focused on securing the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Yet for many basketball fans, their eyes will shift over the next few weeks to the NCAA Tournament. College basketball is officially entering March Madness.
In a surprising twist, every single player on the Cavaliers' main roster played college basketball. In an era of the NBA when so many of the league's best players hail from overseas, the Cavaliers have 13 American-born players and a Canadian, Tristan Thompson, who played at Texas.
When you add in the two-way players, only Australian Luke Travers did not play college basketball. That means 16 of Cleveland's 17 players had the chance to participate in March Madness.
How did they do? Who made it to the NCAA Tournament? Did anyone make a deep run to the Final Four? Let's look at every player on the roster and unpack their success in March Madness, starting with some bad news.
Didn't make the Tournament at all
Jarrett Allen: While Jarrett Allen was a 5-star freshman who joined Shaka Smart and the Texas Longhorns in 2016-17, there was not another NBA player on the roster and they had a truly abysmal season. 11-22, just 4-14 in the Big 12, and no shot at the NCAA Tournament.
Darius Garland: Just five games into his freshman season at Vanderbilt, Garland went down with a knee injury and would miss the rest of the season. Despite having a number of other future NBA players -- Aaron Nesmith, Matt Ryan and Saben Lee -- the Commodores went 0-18 in the SEC and fired head coach Bryce Drew after the season.
Javonte Green: Green played four years of basketball for the Radford Highlanders, a small school in the Big South that never made the NCAA Tournament while Green was there. He did play a key role in the school's basketball turnaround; they won six games in his freshman season and 22 in his senior year.
Isaac Okoro: In his single season of college basketball, Isaac Okoro did and didn't make the tournament. His Auburn Tigers went 25-6 and were en route for a Top-3 seed, but COVID-19 shut down the Tournament.
Max Strus: Max Strus had the unfortunate pleasure of playing college basketball at DePaul, which is riding the nation's longest active streak for a Power-Conference school not making the NCAA Tournament. That included the two seasons Strus was in town; Depaul went a combined 11-25 in Big East play those two seasons.
One and Done
Sam Merrill: Sam Merrill became a cult hero at Utah State, an offensive powerhouse who along with defensive star Neemias Queta led the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 8 seed in 2018-19; they lost to Matisse Thybulle and the Washington Huskies. The following season they won the Mountain West Tournament as Merrill exploded into a national star...and were denied their chance at the NCAA Tournament when COVID shut it down.
Craig Porter Jr.: A five-year college player, Craig Porter Jr. only played three seasons in Division-I, all for Wichita State. Well removed from their halcyon days of title contention when Fred VanVleet was suiting up for the Shockers, Wichita State did make the NCAA Tournament once during Porter's first season in 2020-21. Slipping into the field as one of the "first four" teams, they lost by a single point to Drake in Dayton.
Won at least a game
Emoni Bates: High-school phenom Emoni Bates reclassified to come to college a year early and proceeded to crash and burn, destroying his draft stock and doing very little as a freshman at Memphis. Packed with other NBA talent, however, including Jalen Duren, the Tigers went 22-11 and were a No. 9 seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. They took down Boise State in the First Round and then lost a competitive game to Chet Holmgren and Gonzaga.
Tristan Thompson: Playing for the Texas Longhorns all the way back in 2010-11, Tristan Thompson was a part of a freshman class that included Cory Joseph and propelled Texas to a 28-8 record and a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Under head coach Rick Barnes they held off a plucky Oakland team in the First Round and then lost by a single point to Arizona in their next game, led by draft phenom and eventual NBA bust Derrick Williams.
Jaylon Tyson: Jaylon Tyson makes it into this category more on a technicality than anything else. He was a freshman on the 2021-22 Texas Longhorns who made it to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, but he wasn't in the rotation. He then transferred to Texas Tech and missed the tournament, then did so again as a junior at Cal.
Making a Deep Run
Evan Mobley: Despite playing only a single season of college basketball, Evan Mobley was dominant and propelled a middling USC Trojans team not only into the NCAA Tournament but on a deep run once they got there. The No. 6 Trojans shut down Drake in the First Round, then absolutely walloped a Kansas team that included Christian Braun and Ochai Agbaji. After another win over Oregon, they eventually lost in the Elite Eight to a loaded Gonzaga team.
Nae'Qwan Tomlin: The Cavaliers' newest two-way player transferred into Kansas State in 2022-23 and started on a team that went 26-20 and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That Wildcats team then went on a run, making it all the way to the Elite Eight before losing to Cinderella Florida Atlantic.
Dean Wade: Playing four seasons at Kansas State, Dean Wade had his fair share of trips to the NCAA Tournament. As a sophomore the Wildcats were an 11-seed who won a First Four Game to make the bracket proper before losing to Cincinnati. The following season in 2017-18 the Wildcats were a No. 9 seed who went on a deep run, aided by UMBC taking down Virginia in the first 16-1 upset in the history of the tournament.
That Wildcats team took down Creighton, UMBC and No. 5 Kentucky before losing to Sister Jean and Loyola Chicago in the Elite Eight. As a senior the following season, Wade and the Wildcats had their best season, earning a No. 4 seed, but were upset by the UC Irvine Anteaters in the First Round.
Won it All
Ty Jerome and De'Andre Hunter: We end, of course, with the two current Cavaliers who were also Cavaliers at Virginia in college. Ty Jerome started a year before Hunter, and the 2016-17 Cavaliers were a No. 5 seed and lost in the Second Round to a Florida team destined for the Elite Eight.
Adding Hunter the next season to a team that also boasted Kyle Guy, former Cavalier Mamadi Diakite and current Memphis center Jay Huff, the 2017-18 Cavaliers went 31-3 and were the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament...only to lose to the No. 16-seed University of Maryland-Baltimore County, the first time in history that had ever happened.
Finally, in their last season at Virginia, they struck gold. A one seed once again, the Cavaliers went on a wild run to the NCAA title, including nail-biting wins over Purdue in the Elite Eight and Auburn in the Final Four, ultimately taking down Texas Tech in the National Championship Game.
From never making the tournament to hoisting the trophy, the Cleveland Cavaliers' roster boasts every flavor of March Madness.