In his standout freshman season, Kevin Durant dominated the court for the Texas Longhorns and earned numerous end-of-season awards. (Photo by Richard Clement /Icon SMI/Icon Sport Media via Getty Images)
PHOENIX – As the Phoenix Suns fight for a spot in the NBA postseason, the sports world shifts its focus to a different tournament.
The 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tipped off Thursday, bringing all kinds of storylines. While front offices focus on potential draft prospects and fans fill out brackets, NBA players are rooting for their alma maters.
For the Suns, 14 of the 18 players on the roster attended colleges competing in this year’s tournament, while 16 of the 18 once played on the March Madness stage. Grayson Allen, Tyus Jones and Mason Plumlee all played at Duke, one of the favorites to win the tournament as a No. 1 seed.
Bradley Beal’s Florida Gators are another tournament favorite and No. 1 seed, and three other Suns played for the No. 3-seeded Kentucky Wildcats, including Devin Booker. Other players’ alma maters include Bol Bol’s fifth-seeded Oregon, Jalen Bridges and Royce O’Neal’s ninth-seeded Baylor, Oso Ighodaro’s seventh-seeded Marquette, Damion Lee’s eighth-seeded Louisville and Monte Morris’ third-seeded Iowa State. Kevin Durant’s 11th-seeded Texas was eliminated in a First Four game Wednesday night.
Even with the NBA playoffs approaching, Suns players are making time to root for their colleges. Although the Suns played the Chicago Bulls Wednesday night while Texas fell to Xavier in the First Four, Durant was ready to root for his college team.
“I’m focused on that, you know it,” Durant said before the game. “I’ll be locked into it.”
Durant won National Player of the Year honors in his only year at Texas in 2006-2007, but his Longhorns fell in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
Ighodaro hasn’t fared much better than Durant, as Marquette was upset as a No. 2 seed in each of the last two tournaments, including losing to Michigan State in 2023. This year, Marquette and Michigan State could match up in the second round, and Ighodaro has heard some talk from fans in the building.
“We got a lot of Michigan State guys around here and they keep talking about the second-round matchup,” Ighodaro said. “At Marquette, we just take it one game at a time.”
Ighodaro’s former team plays New Mexico on Friday. If Marquette wins and pulls off an upset over Michigan State, the team could potentially play Morris’ alma mater, Iowa State.
“They’re looking to the future,” Ighodaro said. “We’re trying to take care of New Mexico first and we’ll worry about what’s to come after that.”
Several potential matchups between Suns players’ colleges could lead to more friendly trash talk. Duke and Baylor each are one win away from a second-round matchup, and if the two betting favorites meet in the championship, then it would be the Blue Devils facing off with Beal’s Gators.
How players fared in the NCAA Tournament
Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant always cheers on the Texas Longhorns with the same passion he brings to the court. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
Despite Durant and Ighodaro falling short in their NCAA Tournament experiences, their teammates have found success.
The most successful current Suns attended Duke, where all three players won a national championship. Plumlee won in 2010, while Jones and Allen won in 2015 as freshmen, with Jones being recognized as the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Plumlee and Allen each played in three more tournaments with Duke, but neither made it past the Elite Eight.
Collin Gillespie also won a national championship in 2018 on a star-studded Villanova team that included current Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges. In his five years with Villanova, Gillespie won two Big East Player of the Year awards and led the Wildcats to the Final Four in 2022.
In his one year at Kentucky, Booker and the Wildcats made the Final Four in 2015 before losing to Wisconsin and former Phoenix Suns center Frank Kaminsky. Additionally, Morris made the tournament all four years at Iowa State.
Across the roster, Suns players have four national championships, six Final Four appearances and 10 Elite Eight appearances.