WATCH: Memories Made In March

 

Looking Back at Warriors Players, Coaches and Staff Performances in the NCAA Tournament

As the NBA playoff push heats up, the NCAA Tournament tips off. And when it comes to the big dance, the Warriors have plenty of fond memories from their collegiate careers.

This year, 10 Warriors players and four team staff have alma maters that secured a bid into the 2022 NCAA Tournament. The Tournament is underway, and Stephen Curry’s Davidson and Draymond Green’s Michigan State are going head-to-head in a first-round matchup on Friday, March 18 (6:40 p.m. PST, CBS).

As this year’s Cinderella stories are written, let’s look back at how Warriors players, coaches and team staff fared in their past trips to the big dance.

Stephen Curry - Davidson

Tournament Appearances: 2007, 2008 | Farthest Advanced: Elite Eight

Stephen Curry entered the NCAA Tournament as a freshman in 2007, scoring 30 points in Davidson’s first round loss to Maryland. The following year, Curry led the 10th-seeded Davidson Wildcats to the Elite Eight in an unlikely 2008 NCAA Tournament run. Curry recorded 40 points against seventh-seeded Gonzaga to take the Wildcats to their first NCAA Tournament win since 1969. The guard then tallied 30 and 33 points in respective wins over Georgetown and Wisconsin before a 25-point effort in his final NCAA Tournament game, a two-point loss to the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks. Curry earned NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional Most Outstanding Player honors for his role in Davidson’s Cinderella run. While the Wildcats did not get into NCAA tournament bid in 2009, the guard became the NCAA scoring leader and was named a consensus first team All-American as a junior, averaging 28.6 points, 5.6 assists, and 2.5 steals.

Draymond Green - Michigan State

Tournament Appearances: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 | Farthest Advanced: 2009 NCAA Championship Game

Draymond Green knows a thing or two about what the NCAA Tournament is all about, making four appearances with Michigan State in the big dance and appearing in 15 total Tournament games. Green was part of a pair of Final Four runs as a freshman and a sophomore, and he was an NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team selection in both 2010 and 2012. As a freshman in the 2009 NCAA Championship game, Green posted seven points and seven rebounds in a loss to North Carolina. Green’s impact on the Tournament would continue, as he became the third player in NCAA history to have multiple triple-doubles in the NCAA Tournament — Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson were the only ones to previously achieve that feat. Green’s triple-doubles both came in early round action: a 23-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist performance against UCLA in 2011 and a 24-point, 12-rebound, 10-assist outing against Long Island University in 2012. In 15 career tourney games, Green tallied 11.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists, but as a senior in 2012 — a year that saw him become the third Spartan to ever earn National Player of the Year honors — Green averaged 17.7 points, 13.7 rebounds and six assists in three games.

Andre Iguodala - Arizona

Tournament Appearances: 2003, 2004 | Farthest Advanced: Elite Eight

Andre Iguodala made two NCAA Tournament appearances with the University of Arizona during his freshman and sophomore seasons. Iguodala came off the bench to help Arizona reach the Elite Eight during his freshman season, scoring a total of 14 points off the bench over four games. As a sophomore, Iguodala recorded 19 points, three rebounds, one steal and one block in the ninth-seeded Wildcats’ first round loss to Seton Hall.

Moses Moody - Arkansas

Tournament Appearances: 2021 | Farthest Advanced: Elite Eight

Selected with the 14th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, Moses Moody spent one year at the University of Arkansas where he helped take the Razorbacks to the Elite Eight in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The 2020-21 SEC Freshman of the Year, Moody averaged 13.7 points and 4.3 rebounds over four NCAA Tournament games. Moody’s collegiate career would end one game short of the Final Four, as the Razorbacks fell to Baylor, the eventual national champions, in the Elite Eight.

Kevon Looney - UCLA

Tournament Appearances: 2015 | Farthest Advanced: Sweet 16

Kevon Looney joined the UCLA Bruins on their bid in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, with the 11th-seeded Bruins upsetting sixth-seeded Saint Mary’s University (60-59) and 14th-seeded UAB (92-72) in the first two rounds of the big dance. The Bruins continued to advance to the Sweet 16, where Looney posted nine points and eight rebounds in UCLA’s loss to Gonzaga (74-62).

Jordan Poole - Michigan

Tournament Appearances: 2018, 2019 | Farthest Advanced: Sweet 16

Jordan Poole is no stranger to clutch moments, coming up huge for the University of Michigan during his freshman year after sinking a buzzer-beating splash in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament to lift the Wolverines past Houston (64–63) and give Michigan their fourth Sweet 16 appearance in six years. Poole’s quality play continued the following year, with the guard recording a game-high 19 points in a second round win over the University of Florida (64–49) in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

Andrew Wiggins - Kansas

Tournament Appearances: 2014 | Farthest Advanced: Second Round

Andrew Wiggins spent one season at the University of Kansas where the then-freshman forward and the Jayhawks made a second round appearance in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. After scoring 19 points in an 80-69 victory over Eastern Kentucky in the first round, Kansas fell short to Stanford in a second round loss to end the Jayhawks’ season.

Juan Toscano-Anderson - Marquette

Tournament Appearances: 2013 | Farthest Advanced: Second Round

During his sophomore season at Marquette, Juan Toscano-Anderson started in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament in a matchup against Davidson. In 16 minutes of play, Toscano-Anderson grabbed a pair or rebounds but it was not enough in Marquette’s 59-58 loss to Davidson.

Warriors Coaches and Staff - Arizona, UCLA and Duke

Tournament Appearances: 1985, 1986, 1988 (Kerr, Fraser), 1995, 1997 (Myers), 2000, 2001, 2002 (Dunleavy Jr.) | Farthest Advanced: Final Four (Kerr, Fraser), 1995 NCAA Championship Game (Myers), 2001 NCAA Championship Game (Dunleavy Jr.)

A number of Warriors coaches and staff have made NCAA Tournament appearances, including Head Coach Steve Kerr. After the University of Arizona lost in the first round of the Tournament in 1985 and 1986, then-senior Steve Kerr helped lead the top-seeded Wildcats to their first Final Four appearance in 1988. Kerr posted double-figures through the Wildcats’ run, recording 13, 17 and 14 points in respective victories over Seton Hall, Iowa and North Carolina. In addition, Kerr capped his collegiate career by setting an NCAA record for 3-point percentage in a season (57.3 percent). At Arizona, Kerr was teammates with Bruce Fraser, who now joins him on the Warriors coaching staff.

As a sophomore in 1995, Warriors President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Bob Myers played in three games during UCLA’s run to the NCAA Championship, posting four points in eight minutes. Myers would play in four more NCAA Tournament games over the next two seasons and was part of the team’s run to the Elite Eight in 1997.

Warriors Assistant General Manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. spent three seasons at Duke University, joining the Blue Devils in three bids to the big dance. As a sophomore, Dunleavy helped lead Duke to the 2001 NCAA Championship, scoring 21 points — including three 3-pointers during a decisive 11–2 second-half Duke run — in an 82-72 final round victory over Arizona. The following season, Dunleavy averaged 15.7 points over three Tournament games and he’d go on to be selected by the Warriors with the third pick of the 2002 NBA Draft.