HighSchool OT

Mens Basketball

NC high school products look to lead teams in NCAA Tournament

Mar 19, 2013

North Carolina high school basketball players will make their impact felt in March Madness over the coming weeks.

42 players who played high school basketball in the state of North Carolina will participate in the NCAA Tournament, which begins this week.

The first game with North Carolina ties will happen in the First Four when NC A&T and Liberty play on Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m. on truTV. Slideshow     Our lens on NC players in March Madness

Tavares Speaks (Green Hope/Cary, NC) and Antwan Burrus (South Central/Winterville, NC)  both play for liberty, while four players on NC A&T's team are from North Carolina – Adrian Powell (Massanutten Military/Conover, NC), Ahmad Abdullah (Knightdale/Raleigh, NC), Shaun Stewart (Sun Valley/Monroe, NC), and DaMetrius Upchurch (Garner/Raleigh, NC).

Several players on local college teams also have North Carolina ties.

Duke's roster features four players from North Carolina high schools, including Raleigh's Ryan Kelly who graduated from Ravenscroft School as the North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year.

Brothers Marshall Plumlee and Mason Plumlee, both from Warsaw, Ind., attended Christ School in Arden, NC. Seth Curry played basketball at Charlotte Christian.

Duke will play Albany in the second round on Mar. 22, at 12:15 p.m. on WRAL-TV.

NC State has seven players on its roster with North Carolina high school basketball ties.

Freshmen Chase Cannon (The Miller School/Morehead City, NC), Tyler Lewis (Oak Hill Academy/Statesville, NC), Rodney Purvis (Upper Room/Raleigh, NC), and T.J. Warren (Brewster Academy/Durham, NC) all played high school basketball in North Carolina at one time.

C.J. Leslie (Word of God/Raleigh, NC), Jay Lewis (Greensboro Day School/Greensboro, NC), and Jevoni Robinson (Independence/Charlotte, NC) are also on NC State's roster.

The Wolfpack will take on Temple in the second round on Mar. 22, at 1:40 p.m. on TBS. More Info     NC players playing in NCAA Tournament

UNC also has players on its roster from North Carolina – eight in fact.

Tar Heel players with North Carolina high school ties include Denzel Robinson (Chapel Hill/Chapel Hill, NC), Frank Tanner (Hickory Ridge/Charlotte, NC), Jackson Simmons (Smoky Mountain/Webster, NC), James Manor (Chapel Hill/Carrboro, NC), Luke Davis (Ravenscroft/Raleigh, NC), P.J. Hairston (Hargrave Military/Greensboro, NC), Reggie Bullock (Kinston/Kinston, NC), and Wade Moody (Mount Airy/Mount Airy, NC).

UNC will open the tournament on again Villanova on Friday at 7:20 p.m. on TNT.