A list of Texas high school alums in this year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

This year's NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament features 32 teams with Texans

Mar 4, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies guard Wade Taylor IV (4) reacts after the game against the Auburn Tigers at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

March Madness is here and the field of 68 teams in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournamentwas unveiled. Many people will be filling out brackets and doing extensive research to determine which school will win it all.

THE BRACKET 🙌#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/fo6lA8hJ7g

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 16, 2025

A large number of former Texas high school basketball alums are represented in the Big Dance this year. There are 32 teams with at least 1 player who graduated from a Texas high school.

The Texas Longhorns have the most homegrown talent with 9 players that graduated from Texas high school. Texas A&M had six, while Houston and Texas Tech have five each. Kansas and Troy have four, while McNeese State, Marquette and New Mexico all have three. 

Here is a list of NCAA Men's Tournament players who originally went to high school in Texas:

American

Elijah Spring, China Spring 

Arizona

KJ Lewis, El Paso Chapin/Duncanville 

Auburn

Addarin Scott, Dallas David W. Carter

Blake Muschalek, Addison Trinity Christian Academy 

Colorado State 

Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, San Antonio Warren 

Jalen Lake, Waxahachie

Grand Canyon 

JaKobe Coles, Denton Guyer 

High Point

Terry Anderson, Deer Park 

Braden Hausen, Amarillo

Mar 13, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Houston Cougars guard Terrance Arceneaux (23) drives to the basket around Colorado Buffaloes forward Andrej Jakimovski (23) during the first half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images / William Purnell-Imagn Images

Houston

Kordelius Jefferson, Arlington James Martin 

Ramon Walker, Alvin Shadow Creek

L.J. Cryer, Katy Morton Ranch 

Joseph Tugler, Cypress Falls 

Terrance Arceneaux, Beaumont United 

Kansas

Jamari McDowell, Manvel 

KJ Adams, Austin Westlake

Noah Shelby, Dallas Greenhill School

Rylen Griffen, Richardson

Mar 12, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas Jayhawks forward KJ Adams Jr. (24) reacts after a play during the first half against the UCF Knights at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images / William Purnell-Imagn Images

Kentucky

Walker Horn, Austin Westlake

Liberty 

JC Shirer Jr., Arlington Grace Prep Academy

Marquette

Cameron Brown, Plano John Paul II 

Josh Clark, Sugar Land William P. Clements

Maryland

Jahari Long, Bellaire Episcopal 

Jay Young, Garland 

McNeese State 

T’Johnn Brown, Dallas Skyline 

DJ Richards Jr., Cypress Creek

Erik Villareal, Houston Clear Lake 

Mar 14, 2025; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Memphis Tigers guard PJ Haggerty (4) scores a basket as Wichita State Shockers forward Corey Washington (6) defends during the second half at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images / Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Memphis 

Jared Harris, Silsbee 

PJ Haggerty, Crosby 

Michigan

Ruben Jones, Houston Jack Yates

Michigan State 

Gehrig Normand, North Richland Hills Birdville

Mississippi 

Max Smith, Austin Anderson 

Zach Day, Midland Christian 

Mississippi State 

Shawn Jones Jr., Alvin Shadow Creek

Mount St. Mary’s 

Dallas Hobbs, Plano Dynamic Prep 

New Mexico

Kayde Dotson, Beaumont United 

Daniel Thomas, Dallas Carter 

CJ Noland, Waxahachie 

Oklahoma

Kuol Atak, Haltom City 

SIU-Edwardsville

Jo Valrie, Houston Yates

St. John’s 

Zuby Ejiofor, Garland 

Aaron Scott, Spring Legacy the School of Sport Sciences/Spring Klein Oak

Tennessee

Campbell Duncan, Austin Anderson 

Gavin Paull, Austin Westlake

Texas

Julian Larry, Frisco Lone Star/Lewisville iSchool Academy 

Chendall Weaver, Mansfield Timberview 

Preston Clark, Austin Westlake 

Nic Codie, Carrollton Newman Smith

Tramon Mack, Dickinson

Malik Presley, San Marcos

Ze’Rik Onyema, San Antonio John Jay 

Anthon McDermott, Hallsville

Devon Pryor, Houston PSAT Academy

Dec 19, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns forward Nic Codie (10) grabs a rebound over New Orleans forward Luke Davis (20) during the first half at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Texas A&M

Zhuric Phelps, Midland Legacy/Duncanville

Hayden Hefner, Nederland

Wade Taylor IV, Lancaster 

Christopher McDermott, Houston Booker T. Washington 

Jaelyn Lee, Paris

Manny Obaseki, Allen/Plano John Paul II 

Texas Tech 

Jazz Henderson, Dallas Faith Family of Oak Cliff 

Leon Horner, Plano Dynamic Prep 

Jack Francis, Austin Anderson 

JT Toppin, Dallas Faith Family of Oak Cliff 

Corbin Green, Midlothian

Troy

Marcs Rigsby, Jr., Irving MacArthur

Myles Rigsby, Irving MacArthur/Fort Worth O.D. Wyatt 

Tayton Conerway, Burleson Centennial 

Jackson Fields, Missouri City Alief Lawrence E. Elkins 

UC-San Diego

Tyler McGhie, Denton Guyer

Utah State

Karson Templin, Lucas Lovejoy

Vanderbilt

Coleson Messer, Dallas Highland Park 

Jordan Williams, Houston Second Baptist

Yale

Samson Aletan, Richardson Lake Highlands 

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Almost made the list

There are also 13 players on teams in the field that either attended high school in Texas before transferring or still claim a Texas town as their hometown on the school’s website.

The schools are listed with the player's hometown or high school, followed by where they graduated.  Add in those six college with players with some Texas connection, which makes it 38 of the 68 NCAA teams. Those teams listed below and not above are bolded and underlined.

Baylor

Langston Love, Cibolo Steele/Montverde Academy 

Omar Adegbola, Houston/Montverde Academy

Clemson

Ace Buckner, Dallas/La Lumiere

Illinois

Tre White, Little Elm/Prolific Prep 

Kansas

Zach Clemence, San Antonio/Findley Prep/Sunrise Christian Academy

Marquette

Chase Ross, Dallas/Cushing Academy

Missouri

Trent Burns, Cypress/Good Vision Academy

Mount St. Mary’s 

Jonathan Ogunfuye, Cypress Ranch/Spire Academy 

Oklahoma

Jacolb-Fredson-Cole, Bellaire/Link Academy 

San Diego State

Magoon Gwath, Euless/Veritas Prep 

Texas

Jamie Wilson, Austin/Oak Hill Academy, Va. 

Tre Johnson, Richardson Lake Highlands/Link Academy

Mar 14, 2025; New York, NY, USA; Connecticut Huskies forward Liam McNeeley (30) drives to the basket against Creighton Bluejays guard Fedor Zugic (7) and center Fredrick King (33) during the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

UConn

Liam McNeeley, Richardson JJ Pearce/Plano John Paul II/Montverde Academy

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OTHER TEXAS STORIES

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