Jack Salt will become just the second Kiwi and North Harbour representative after Kirk Penney (Wisconsin in 1999-2000 season) to take the court at the NCAA Men’s Division I Tournament Final Four next weekend.

Jack and the Virginia University Cavaliers are semi-final bound for the first time since 1984 after overcoming Purdue 80-75 in overtime on Sunday.

It was an enthralling, high quality contest with numerous twists and turns, Salt playing a significant part in the history making victory. He had 5 points (2/3FG) and 8 rebounds (5 offensive boards), and 2 steals in 34 minutes but those stats don’t tell the full story as the former Tall Blacks centre consistently freed up the Virginia shooters with rock like screens and secured extra possessions with his relentless work that included a game high five offensive rebounds.

Purdue looked to be advancing in regulation time on the back of an amazing 42 points from point guard Carsen Edwards. Purdue led 70-67 with 17 seconds remaining and 70-68 with 7 seconds to go. A crucial offensive batted rebound from Virginia forward Mamadi Diakite followed by a score on the buzzer from the same player sent the game into overtime.

Virginia won the extra period 10-5 and will play their semi-final in Minneapolis next Saturday (Sunday NZT).

In other news Matt Freeman, who attended the Final Four with Oklahoma University as a redshirt in 2016, has declared that he will transfer from the Sooners for his final collegiate year. 

The former Westlake and Harbour forward will graduate in May and, as per NCAA rules, will be eligible to play for another college next season as a graduate transfer.

Matt played 84 games for the Sooners but will be looking for a far bigger playing role with a new school in the 2019-2020 season after averaging just 11 minutes per game this season. Ironically his last appearance for Oklahoma was against Virginia in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last week when they were beaten 63-51.

Alex Talma will link up with the Canterbury Rams for the upcoming Sal’s NBL season. Alex has just completed his successful senior year at Biola University Eagles and will link with the Rams later this month. Another former Westlake and Harbour forward, Alex led the Eagles rebounding with 8.4 boards per game and was second on the scoring list with 12.2 points per outing.

Another American college senior linking up with the Rams is Jonathan Janssen. The 6’9” forward, who schooled at Northcross Intermediate before his family headed to the Gold Coast, has recently graduated from Hawaii Pacific University.

Alex and Jonathan played against each other in the NCAA Division II PacWest Conference but will now join forces in a youthful looking Canterbury side.

New Canterbury Rams Head Coach Mick Downer is pleased to add Alex to his roster.

“He is a fantastic guy who plays with relentless toughness particularly in the rebounding contest. With his experience at college being a dominant defender and rebounder for his team we are really looking forward to Alex contributing to our group in the same way this season.”