Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg headlines the local men’s basketball players in the NCAA Tournament

The NCAA Tournament bracket was officially unveiled on Sunday, revealing the 68 teams that will be competing to reach this year’s men’s Final Four in Indianapolis.

The Philadelphia area is well represented in the bracket with Villanova and Penn making the field, not to mention the many players from schools across the country with connections to the area. With the tournament tipping off Tuesday with the First Four, here is a list of the players with Philadelphia ties who are dancing this March:

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Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg has been one of the biggest breakout stars in college basketball this season and was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press on Tuesday. The Pennsauken High graduate transferred to Michigan from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the offseason, and averaged a team-high 14.6 points as well as 7 rebounds for the Wolverines.

Michigan, one of four No. 1 seeds, will play the winner of Tuesday’s First Four game between No. 16 Maryland-Baltimore County and No. 16 Howard on Thursday at 7:10 p.m. in Buffalo (CBS).

In the South Regional, No. 1 seed Florida, which will play the Prairie View A&M-Lehigh winner, is led by a pair of former Perkiomen School stars in Thomas Haugh and Xaivian Lee.

Haugh, who was named an AP third-team All-American, is averaging a team-high 17.1 points as a junior for the defending champs. He won a state independent schools championship at Perkiomen in 2023 and his grandfather is Mike Fuhrman, who played football for Memphis State and the NFL’s Baltimore Colts.

Meanwhile, Lee is averaging 10.9 points and 4.3 assists in his first season at Florida. He transferred from Princeton, where he averaged 17 points during his sophomore and junior seasons.

Staying in the SEC, another pair of local players will be key contributors for Arkansas, the No. 4 seed in the West Regional. Camden High alumnus Billy Richmond, who grew up in Memphis before moving here for his junior year of high school, is averaging 11 points and 4 rebounds entering the NCAA Tournament as a sophomore. At Camden in 2023-24, he led the Panthers to a 30-2 record, averaging 17.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists.

D.J. Wagner, who starred at Camden High like his father, Dajuan Wagner, and grandfather, Milt Wagner, did before him, comes off the bench for Arkansas. The Kentucky transfer averages 7.5 points and 23.7 minutes.

Arkansas plays No. 13 Hawaii on Thursday at 4:25 p.m. in San Diego (TBS).

Philadelphia native and North Carolina State star Quadir Copeland has reinvented himself since leaving Syracuse, first at McNeese State and now with the Wolfpack. The 6-foot-6 senior has morphed into a dynamic point guard after starting his career as a power forward.

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Copeland is averaging a career-high 13.9 points and an ACC-leading 6.6 assists. The Wolfpack and Copeland will play Texas in the First Four on Tuesday at 9:15 p.m. in Dayton (truTV).