By R.L. Bynum
Ian Jackson was the only former UNC player of four to win in conference championship games this weekend, but he had the smallest role.
Elliot Cadeau’s No. 3 Michigan team, despite his double-double in the Big Ten tournament championship game, and No. 22 Vanderbilt, with Tyler Nickel and Jalen Washington, both came up short in title games on Sunday. Michigan, Vanderbilt, St. John’s, Ven-Allen Lubin’s N.C. State team and Puff Johnson’s Ohio State team will all play in the NCAA tournament.
On his way to helping No. 3 Michigan make the final of the Big Ten tournament, Cadeau hit a key 3-pointer late in Michigan’s 68–65 semifinal victory over No. 23 Wisconsin , after missing a 3-point attempt seconds earlier. He suggested he wouldn’t have had the confidence to do that during his time at North Carolina.
“I feel like the past two years of my life, I haven’t been wired like that,” Cadeau said. “But, thanks to my coaching staff, I’m now wired like that. I was wired like that in high school. So, them just giving me confidence, my teammates giving me confidence to just shoot it again. Even if I miss, they don’t care if I miss again.”
In Sunday’s 80–72 loss to No. 7 Purdue in the championship game, Cadeau produced a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists. It was his fourth career double-double and second this season, and the 13th time this season with at least seven assists after doing it 15 times for the Tar Heels last season.
In Friday’s 71–67 quarterfinal victory over Ohio State, Cadeau had 15 points, three 3-pointers and seven assists. It was his eighth game with at least three 3-pointers after doing it only twice last season at UNC.
Michigan is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional, and plays Thursday in Buffalo against the winner of the First Four game between UMBC and Howard.
Nickel and Washington both had big games as the Commodores went 2–1 in the SEC tournament.
Washington scored 17 points and a 3-pointer while pulling down four rebounds, despite battling foul trouble, in Vanderbilt’s 91–74 semifinal blowout Saturday over No. 4 Florida.
Nickel scored 19 points and five 3-pointers in the Commodores’ 86–75 Sunday loss to No. 17 Arkansas in the championship game after scoring in single digits in the previous four games. It was Nickel’s 18th game with at least three 3-pointers, 11th with at least four and seventh with at least five, but only the second with more than two since Feb. 18.
In Friday’s 75–68 quarterfinal victory over Tennessee, Nickel had eight points and two 3-pointers while Washington collected seven points and seven rebounds.
The Commodores are the No. 5 seed in the South Regional, and faces No. 12 McNeese State on Thursday in a first-round game in Oklahoma City.
Jackson’s role continues to diminish for No. 13 St. John’s (28–6), which won the Big East tournament title with a 72–52 win Saturday over No. 7 UConn. He had three points in 15 minutes in that game after scoring four in 13 minutes of Friday’s 78–68 semifinal victory over Seton Hall.
In Thursday’s 85–72 quarterfinal victory over Providence, Jackson had scored 14 points and two 3-pointers, with three rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes. That was only his second double-figure scoring game in the last 12.
The Red Storm are the No. 5 seed in the East Regional, and open play Friday in San Diego against No. 5 Northern Iowa.
Although Minnesota’s season wasn’t that successful, Cade Tyson capped a productive season with 24 points, three 3-pointers and four rebounds as the Gophers (15–17) finished their season with a 72–67 loss Wednesday to Rutgers in the second round of the Big Ten tournament.
For the eighth time this season, Tyson played the entire game (including 45 minutes in the Jan. 9 loss to Southern Cal) after playing double-digit minutes only eight times last season at UNC.
Tyson finished with a team-leading 19.6 scoring average, shooting 42.2% from 3-point range and pulling down 5.4 rebounds per game.
Lubin played well as N.C. State advanced to the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament. He had 18 points and five rebounds in Wednesday’s second-round win over Pittsburgh and put up a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals) in the Wolfpack’s 81–74 quarterfinal loss to No 10 Virginia.
The Wolfpack plays in the First Four against Texas in a matchup of No. 11 seeds.
Teonni Key’s Kentucky team is the No. 5 seed in the Fort Worth 1 Regional and plays Saturday in Morgantown, W.Va., against No. 12 James Madison.
In other action involving former UNC players in the last week:
— RyLee Grays didn’t play in Tulsa’s 76–74 loss Thursday in the first round of the Ameican Conference tournament.
— Johnson only played in one of Ohio State’s two Big Ten tournament games, playing two minutes in the Buckeyes’ 72–67 quarterfinal loss to No. 3 Michigan on Friday. The Buckeyes are the No. 8 seed in the East Regional, and open play Thursday in Greenville, S.C., against No. 9 TCU.
— Will Shaver had two points and two blocks in 10 minutes of Samford’s season-ending 86–81 loss to Furman in the first round of the Southern Conference tournament.
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Elliot Cadeau, Michigan guard
6–1, 180 pounds | Junior | UNC 2023–25 (2 seasons)
Roster situation — Starter
Season statistics — 38 games, 38 starts, 10.2 points, 41.6 FG%, 37.7 3P%, 69.4 FT%, 2.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists
Team record: 35–3; Rank: No. 3
Friday: 90–77 win Midwest Regional Sweet 16 in Chicago vs. No. 18 Alabama — Started; 33:37, 17 points, 6–14 FG, 3–8 3FG, 2–5 FT, 5 rebounds, 2 fouls, 7 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 1 block, +15
Sunday: 95–62 win Midwest Regional final in Chicago vs. No. 23 Tennessee — Started; 34:20, 8 points, 3–7 FG, 1–2 3FG, 1–2 FT, 3 rebounds, 2 fouls, 10 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 steals, +30
Next game — 8:49 p.m. Saturday vs. No. 2 Arizona at Final Four in Indianapolis, TBS
Trayanna Crisp, Mississippi State guard
5–8 | Senior | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starter
Season statistics — 30 games, 30 starts, 8.7 points, 38.3 FG%, 37.1 3P%, 84.6 FT%, 2.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists
Team record: 18–13
Season ended with SEC tournament loss
RyLee Grays, Tulsa forward
6–4 | Junior | UNC 2023–24 (1 season)
Roster situation — One of four forwards competing for time
Season statistics — 30 games, 2.3 points, 43.6 FG%, 4–10 3FG, 69.7 FT%, 2.3 rebounds, 8 blocks, 12 steals
Team record: 19–12
Season ended with loss in American Conference tournament
Ian Jackson, St. John’s guard
6–5, 195 pounds | Sophomore | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starter, sharing time in a point-guard-by-committee mix
Season statistics — 36 games, 19 starts, 9.4 points, 40.9 FG%, 34.3 3P%, 90.0 FT%, 2.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists
Team record: 30–7; Rank: No. 13
Friday: 80–75 loss in East Regional Sweet 16 in Washington vs. No. 1 Duke — Didn’t start; 16 minutes, 5 points, 2–8 FG, 1–7 3FG, 2 rebounds, 2 fouls, 2 assists
Season ended with loss to Duke
Puff Johnson, Ohio State
6–8, 190 pounds | Graduate | UNC 2020–23 (3 seasons)
Roster situation — Reserve
Team record: 21–13
Season statistics — 9 games, 1 start, 2.3 points, 33.3 FG%, 3–7 3FG, 6–9 FT, 1.1 rebounds
Season ended with first-round NCAA tournament loss to TCU
Teonni Key, Kentucky forward
6–4 | RS senior | UNC 2022–24 (2 seasons)
Roster situation — Starting forward
Season statistics — 28 games, 28 starts, 11.4 points, 51.2 FG%, 2–15 3FG, 69.8 FT%, 7.5 rebounds, 1.2 blocks
Team record: 25–11; Rank: No. 17
Saturday: 76–54 loss in Fort Worth Regional 1 Sweet 16 vs. No. 3 Texas — Started; 31:31, 10 points, 2–8 FG, 0–1 3FG, 6–6 FT, 9 rebounds, 4 fouls, 2 assists, 2 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block, -17
Season ended with loss to Texas
Ven-Allen Lubin, N.C. State forward
6–9, 250 pounds | Senior | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starting center
Season statistics — 34 games, 34 starts, 13.6 points, ACC-leading 66.8 FG%, 27.3 3P%, 73.3 FT%, 7.1 rebounds
Team record: 20–14
Season ended with NCAA First Four loss to Texas
Tyler Nickel, Vanderbilt wing
6–7, 220 pounds | Senior | UNC 2022–23 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starting forward
Season statistics — 36 games, 36 starts, 13.5 points, 44.4 FG%, 40.0 3P%, 84.7 FT%, 3.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists
Team record: 27–9: Rank: No. 22
Season ended with loss to No. 4 Nebraska in the second round of the NCAA tournament
Paulina Paris, SMU guard
5–9 | Senior | UNC 2022–24 (2 seasons)
Season statistics — 20 games, 12 starts, 9.6 points, 39.9 FG%, 25.0 3P%, 69.7 FT%, 2.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists
Team record: 9–21, 2–16 ACC
Season ended with left foot injury in February
Will Shaver, Samford center
6–10, 265 pounds | RS junior | UNC 2022–23 (1 season)
Roster situation — Reserve minutes
Season statistics — 30 games, 2.6 points, 47.6 FG%, 33.3 3P%, 59.3 FT%, 2.6 rebounds, 17 blocks, 7 steals
Team record: 18–14
Season ended with loss in Southern Conference tournament
Cade Tyson, Minnesota wing
6–7, 180 pounds | Senior | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starter
Season statistics — 31 games, 32 starts, team-leading 19.6 points, 50.0 FG%, 42.2 3P%, 82.6 FT%, 5.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists
Team record: 15–17
Next game — 10:30 Wednesday at College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas vs. Baylor, FS1 (first game since March 11)
Jalen Washington, Vanderbilt center
6–9, 240 pounds | Senior | UNC 2022–25 (3 seasons)
Roster situation — Backup center
Season statistics — 36 games, 9 starts, 8.9 points, 56.3 FG%, 29.4 3P%, 74.1 FT%, 5.6 rebounds, 1.3 blocks
Team record: 27–9; Rank: No. 22
Season ended with loss to No. 4 Nebraska in the second round of the NCAA tournament
Photo via @umichbball
