Four Brits in Action as March Madness Prepares for Tip Off

Luke Nelson and Alex Young (UC Irvine), Gabe Olaseni (Iowa) and Ali Mackay (Davidson) are the four Brits who will be dancing after Selection Sunday this weekend.

It will mark the most British players competing in March Madness in recent years, as last year’s GB U20 backcourt Luke Nelson and Alex Young, who qualified through winning the Big West Tournament, take on Louisville, while Olaseni and Mackay will face off against each other in the second round.

Olaseni and Iowa were stunned by No. 13 seed Penn State in the second round of the 2015 Big Ten Tournament, being defeated 67-58 last week, but enter the tournament as a seventh seed. Olaseni averaged 8.3 points per game along with 6.3 rebounds and had a total of 45 blocks in 31 games, to pick up Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year.

The Wildcats, the Atlantic 10 regular season champions, earned their first at-large berth in program history and bring a 24-7 record into March Madness. Minutes have been hard to come by for former GB U20 Ali Mackay, now in his Senior year, as he averaged 0.7 points and 0.5 rebounds in just 17 appearances this season.

If you’re in the UK and Europe, you can watch the entire NCAA tournament live and on demand at ESPN Player.

ESPN Player’s coverage begins on Tuesday 17 March and runs through five rounds to the National Championship game on Monday 6 April as the eyes of the basketball world focus on the knock-out tournament famed for its upsets, excitement and drama.

Full schedule of ESPN Player’s coverage of the NCAA Tournament:

· 17-18 March – First Round: four “play-in” games as eight teams compete for four spaces in the final 64.

· 19-22 March – Second Round and Third Round: Live back-to-back basketball across four consecutive days – a total of 48 games. ESPN Player will provide flexible game coverage from each of the four tournament regions – East, West, Midwest and South – and fans will be able to watch any single game they choose, both live and on-demand.

· 26-29 March – Regional Semifinals: The remain Sweet Sixteen field compete and are narrowed to the Elite Eight and a coveted spot in the celebrated Final Four.

· 4 April – The Final Four National Semifinals: Live from the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis the final four teams in the tournament compete for a spot in the Championship Game.

· 6 April – NCAA National Championship Game: The final two teams in the country play for a place in history.