How did top 2022 basketball recruits turn out? And how you can watch them in NCAA tourney.

Around this time last year, the top men’s college basketball recruits in the class of 2022 were looked at with expectation and hope.

These were players brought into college programs with the goal of either turning a team’s fortunes around, or helping extend a tradition of greatness.

Now, plenty of them are set to take center stage during college basketball’s biggest event.

The 2023 NCAA Tournament starts in earnest on Thursday, and plenty of the best college basketball recruits from a year ago will play a key role in March Madness.

Below is a guide to which of the top 25 men’s college basketball recruits from 2022 (as listed by the 247Sports Composite) will be playing in March Madness, how they’ve fared as freshmen and what to watch for from them in March.

Thursday’s games to watch

▪ (1) Nick Smith Jr., (17) Anthony Black and (19) Jordan Walsh represented a trio of top 25 recruits in 2022 for head coach Eric Musselman, but the Razorbacks have under-performed given some lofty preseason expectations. Smith has battled a knee injury for a large chunk of the season, and has averaged 14 points per game across 14 games played and 11 starts.

Black’s 12.8 points and 5.1 rebounds averages showcase his production alongside his availability: Black has started all 33 games for Arkansas.

Walsh has played in all 33 contests and is averaging seven points and four rebounds. Arkansas is an 8-seed for the Big Dance and will open the tournament against 9-seed Illinois at 4:30 p.m. Thursday on TBS.

▪ (2) Dariq Whitehead, (3) Dereck Lively II, (4) Kyle Filipowski and (20) Mark Mitchell vaulted first-year Duke head coach Jon Scheyer to the best recruiting class in college basketball last offseason. The on-court results have been less than some expected, but the Blue Devils also seem to be peaking at the right time. Filipowski leads Duke with more than 15 points and nine rebounds per game, while Lively averages more than two blocks. In last weekend’s ACC Tournament championship game win over Virginia, Filipowski had 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Whitehead fractured his right foot over the summer, and has also suffered a left lower leg sprain this season.

Duke is a 5-seed for the NCAA Tournament and has a first-round game against 12-seed Oral Roberts at 7:10 p.m. Thursday on CBS.

▪ (5) Dillon Mitchell and (16) Arterio Morris have both played in every game for a Texas squad that enters the NCAA Tournament in form: The Longhorns have won four straight games, including two wins over Kansas and most recently beat the Jayhawks by 20 points in the Big 12 Tournament title game.

Morris, who is averaging 5.0 points and 1.5 rebounds, has come off the bench for Texas in every game. Mitchell, who is averaging 5.0 points and four rebounds, has started every game. Texas is a 2-seed for the NCAA Tournament and has a first-round game against 15-seed Colgate at 7:25 p.m. Thursday on TBS.

▪ (9) Amari Bailey had games of 26 points and 19 points for UCLA last week during the Bruins’ run to the championship game of the Pac-12 Tournament. The 6-5 freshman guard is averaging 10.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting nearly 50% from the field. (18) Adem Bona and his 1.7 blocks per game have led the way for UCLA in terms of rim protection.

Bailey, Bona and the Bruins are a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament and begin against 15-seed North Carolina-Asheville at 10:05 p.m. Thursday on truTV.

▪ (11) Jarace Walker has been a reliable presence for the No. 1 seed Houston Cougars, and he’s also one of only a few top recruits from the 2022 class to be on a 1 seed for this year’s NCAA Tournament. Walker has recorded per-game averages of 11.1 points and 6.6 rebounds, and he’s hitting 47.1% of his shots from the field.

Walker is a probable first-round lottery pick in the NBA Draft this summer thanks to his length and defensive versatility, along with an emerging three-point shot (Walker has shot 36% on three-pointers). Houston opens the NCAA Tournament against 16-seed Northern Kentucky at 9:20 p.m. Thursday on TNT.

▪ Alabama’s (14) Brandon Miller has become the face of college basketball this March, for better and worse. According to police, Miller was at the scene of a January shooting that killed a woman near the Alabama campus. A member of the Alabama basketball team, Darius Miles, has been charged with capital murder in the incident. According to court testimony, Miller brought the alleged murder weapon to the scene.

Miller has remained an active player for Alabama following this incident, a decision that’s been met with strong criticism. Miller has also collected a plethora of awards for his on-court play in recent days, including AP First Team All-America honors and SEC Player of the Year. Miller averaged 19.6 points and 8.3 rebounds for a Crimson Tide team that won the SEC regular season and SEC Tournament championships.

Alabama is the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament and will begin play against No. 16 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 2:45 p.m. Thursday on CBS.

▪ (15) Julian Phillips has provided steady production for Tennessee at forward, with per-game averages of 9.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists. Phillips is averaging 25 minutes played in 29 games played for the Volunteers.

Phillips also hit more than 82% of his free throws.

Tennessee is a No. 4 seed for the NCAA Tournament and will begin play with a first-round matchup against No. 13 seed Louisiana at 9:40 p.m. Thursday on CBS.

▪ (22) Grady Dick has played his way into NBA Draft lottery pick consideration with a freshman season that’s featured per-game averages of 14.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists. Dick has started all 34 games for Kansas.

The Jayhawks are once again on the 1 seed line for the NCAA Tournament and are looking to become repeat champions of March Madness.

The first step in that pursuit will come with a first-round game against No. 16 seed Howard at 2 p.m. Thursday on TBS.

▪ It’s been a slow-progressing season for (24) Yohan Traore of Auburn, who is originally from France. Traore has added muscle and worked on becoming more of a sturdy defensive presence for a Jekyll-and-Hyde Auburn team that qualified for the Big Dance as a No. 9 seed.

Traore has played in 24 games for Auburn, but he hasn’t put together a meaningful stat line since a late January road win at South Carolina. Auburn opens the NCAA Tournament against No. 8-seed Iowa at 6:50 p.m. Thursday on TNT.

Friday’s games to watch

▪ (8) Keyonte George has lived up to the hype for Baylor. George leads the Bears in scoring (15.8 points) and is second on the team in assists (2.8 assists). George and Baylor will enter the NCAA Tournament on a cold stretch though, having lost four of their last five games.

Baylor is a 3-seed for the NCAA Tournament and will open play with a first-round contest against 14-seed California-Santa Barbara at 1:30 p.m. Friday on TNT.

▪ (10) Cason Wallace and (12) Chris Livingston have been by far the most significant freshman presences on a Kentucky team that’s experienced a notoriously up-and-down season. Wallace has played through back and leg injuries while becoming Kentucky’s best offensive creator and primary ball handler. Livingston’s effectiveness has come in stretches, but at his best the Akron, Ohio, native embraces physicality at both ends of the court while rebounding.

Kentucky is a No. 6 seed for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1982 and will play ex-Cat Bryce Hopkins and No. 11 seed Providence at 7:10 p.m. Friday on CBS.

▪ (23) Jalen Hood-Schifino has been a backcourt star for No. 4 seed Indiana, as the Hoosiers fully returned to the national stage under second-year head coach Mike Woodson. While AP First Team All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis did work around the basket, Hood-Schifino averaged 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists in his backcourt role.

Indiana opens the NCAA Tournament with a Friday game against No. 13 seed Kent State. The game will tip at 9:55 p.m. on TBS.

▪ (25) Vince Iwuchukwu was the latest elite big man to join head coach Andy Enfield at Southern California, but then came the health scare that could have prevented him from playing college basketball entirely.

Iwuchukwu suffered cardiac arrest in the summer of 2022, and was told by doctors he wouldn’t be able to play basketball again. Several months of rehab, training and therapy later, and Iwuchukwu was finally able to take the court for the Trojans in January.

He’s played in 14 games since, and is averaging more than five points and two rebounds. Southern Cal is a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will play No. 7 seed Michigan State at 12:15 p.m. Friday on CBS.

Not in the NCAA Tournament

▪ (6) GG Jackson (South Carolina), (7) Kel’el Ware (Oregon), (13) Cam Whitmore (Villanova) and (21) JJ Starling (Notre Dame) will not be playing in the NCAA Tournament because their teams did not qualify.

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