German touch at March Madness
March Madness is college basketball’s annual highlight © Imago
The March Madness is the highlight of the college basketball season in the USA. For women, four German players are also involved in the fight for the crown.
In the US, that is approaching Basketball madness its peak.
With the traditional March Madness the 68 best teams in the country duel for the prestigious title for men and women.
Five Germans have also received the trophy. In addition to Magnus Pelkowski (Indiana, 1987), Henrik Rödl (North Carolina, 1993) and Enosch Wolf (Connecticut, 2011), Christian Ast (Duke, 1991 and 1992) and Niels Giffey (Connecticut, 2011 and 2014) even triumphed twice.
Four years ago, Moritz Wagner narrowly missed the title. The 25-year-old, who now plays with his brother Franz at the Orlando Magic in the NBA is active, only lost to the Villanova Wildcats in the final with his Michigan Wolverines.
There are no Germans in the men’s race this year, but four Germans are attempting the big coup in the women’s team – three players and one assistant coach.
SPORTS1 introduces the German March Madness participants.
Emily Bessoir (UCLA)
UCLA has secured the ticket for the NCAA Tournament in the strong Pac-12 Conference. In the end there were 25 wins and nine losses.
Emily Bessoir (left) hopes for a deep run with UCLA
Bessoir, a sophomore with UCLA Bruis, is one of the pillars of the team. The 21-year-old started 32 of 34 games and averaged 25.8 minutes this season. During that time, she has 9.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
Game one is for the fourth-seeded Bruins in Greenville 2 against Sacramento State.
Lina Sontag (UCLA)
In addition to Bessoir, the Bruins have a second German in their ranks. However, unlike her teammate, Lina Sontag is still in her freshman year of college.
Lina Sontag (left) is in her freshman year at UCLA
The 19-year-old has also made 32 appearances this season, starting seven times. She spends an average of 17.2 minutes on the field, averaging 5.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals.
Charlotte Kohl (Mississippi State)
With the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Charlotte Kohl qualified for March Madness via the first four. They beat Illinois Fighting 70-56.
Now it’s number ten seeded to start against the Creighton Bluejays. The 22-year-old is hoping for another win. She herself has completed an average of 6.5 minutes in her 21 appearances so far this season. In addition, they have 1.1 points and a rebound in the statistics.
She made her breakthrough in the Bulldogs jersey in February 2022 against Arkansas. It was then that she scored her first double-double (10 points, 18 rebounds) in college.
Nyara Sabally (Sacramento State)
Satou Sabally’s younger sister missed the 2022 season with a knee injury and is now facing her first WNBA season with New York Liberty.
After her time with the Oregon Ducks, she now wants to reach for the NCAA title with Sacramento as her assistant coach
Before that, she wants to be successful as an assistant trainer. The 23-year-old spent her college days at the University of Oregon. From this time she knows the current Sacramento coach Mark Campbell. Before joining the Sacramento State Hornets in Oregon, he worked as an assistant coach and brought Sabally on board. Hornet’s assistant trainer Minyon Moore and Megan Lopez, Director of Operations, also know each other from their time in Oregon.
It starts off against the favored UCLA – and thus for Sabally against the compatriots Bessoir and Kohl.